Poggiotondo is the name of our farm, established around 1850 by Lady Ada Lapini, Lorenzo Massart Senior’s wife. Then Antonio Cutini took over, followed by Guglielmo Massart, Emilia Petrelli, Bebe Bertelli and Manuela Massart. We owe them everything.
Our 54-hectare estate lies over the territories of two different municipalities, Subbiano and Arezzo, and comprises three localities:Poggiotondo (500 metres above sea level), Le Rancole and Valloni.
We have been carrying out our very ambitious project in Poggiotondo for thirty-five years and we are committed in fully achieving it. We want to produce wine and olive oil of the highest quality with the help of a unique group of collaborators and of some distinct experts such as the agronomist Augusto Zarkis, the oenologist Luciano Bandini and the oil expert Giorgio Pannelli.
With this in mind, we share the tasks: Lorenzo is busy with everything concerning the wine, Cinzia takes care of everything regarding the oil. However, we both take part into the various activities (pruning, fertilization, harvesting, bottling, marketing, selling, etc …) and make the various decisions.
Vigna Grande and Vigna Aldo (about 3 hectares) are all that remains of the small vineyards of the 70s, where Sangiovese (70%), Canaiolo, Trebbiano and white Malvasia are grown. We planted Vigna Tata (Sangiovese) and Vigna Dei Meli (Sangiovese, Canaiolo and white Malvasia) in 2002 and 2006, respectively.
Before the real harvest takes place, we eliminate any excess and /or bad quality grapes through the so called “green harvest”.
In our farm all the grapes are hand harvested and carried in small plastic containers, so that the grapes are not shaken and do not lose the essential characteristics needed to get a quality wine.
We produce about 30 quintals per hectare of Malvasia and Trebbiano, and about about 50 quintals per hectare of Sangiovese and Canaiolo.
After being harvested the grapes are brought to the winery. Here they are destemmed and crushed, then it is moved into big fermentation vats, made of glass and concrete, where it macerates and ferments.
During the fermentation process, in order to enhance colour and flavour, pumpovers are performed twice a day. After 12/18 days (the duration depends on the year), once the fermentation process is completed, the wine is moved to smaller barrels, made either of wood or glass and concrete, where it is kept until it is bottled.
Currently 450 hectoliters of wine can be hold in glass and concrete vats, 50 hectoliters in wooden barrels of various sizes and 30 hectoliters in steel containers. In the winery there is also a special room upstairs for making vinsanto, where the view of a stretch of old and new wooden barrels is really impressive.
They all are over 50-years-old. Six-hundred of them (Moraiolo, Leccino Pendolino and other pollinators) lie in the southern side of the estate, in Valloni, (Arezzo).The other 200 (mostly Moraiolo) lie in the north-western side, near Subbiano. All the trees grow on permanently mantained grassland. Pruning usually takes place in February, followed by mainly organic fertilization. The trees are treated at least twice/ three times a year (in May and September).
Our Sardinian donkeys, particularly so, are the distinctive feature of the farm, where they have lived in absolute peace since 1961. People who work in Poggiotondo and regular visitors know that donkeys are very intelligent animals – and, of course, all these people can bray.
The youngest donkeys are Jacqueline (born on 19th May 2012) and Jobim (born on 30th July 2012).
