Castello di Fonterutoli

On 16 December 1398, the notary Ser Lapo Mazzei and the merchant Francesco Datini of Prato exchanged letters. According to the family's account, this correspondence is the first document to refer to Chianti as a wine-growing region. The Chianti region is thus first recorded in official documents through business correspondence. In 1435, the Castello di Fonterutoli came into the family's possession through Lapo's granddaughter, Madonna Smeralda, and has been passed down through twenty-five generations ever since. In 2006, the family acquired Il Caggio, a medieval hamlet near Castellina in Chianti. Giovanni Mazzei, Filippo's eldest son, chose this as the birthplace for a Sangiovese without precedent, as the estate describes it.

With this single-vineyard Sangiovese, the Mazzei family is pursuing no less a goal than making the best wine in the Chianti Classico appellation. Seven different Sangiovese clones, four of them from the family's own 50-year research, form the basis for a Gran Selezione, which is produced at an altitude of up to 350 metres in the single vineyard Il Caggio not far from Castellina (and only in the best vintages).

Siepi has always been more than just a vineyard – it was a vision waiting to become reality. Owned by the Mazzei family since 1435, this mystical place lies amidst dense oak forests near Castellina in Chianti: ten hectares of pure magic on Alberese soils, which even the ancient Romans knew how to appreciate. Paradoxically, the story of Siepi 2023 begins with one of the most challenging vintages of recent times. A mild winter with scant rainfall, followed by a rainy spring that pushed the Mazzei winemakers to their limits. And yet, or perhaps precisely because of this, a wine emerged that impressively embodies the estate's philosophy: "Great vineyards shine in difficult vintages."