Founding Members

The Frescobaldi name goes back 700 years in the world of wine and, by now, has involved 30 generations of the family. In the 1960’s, Vittorio Frescobaldi, proprietor of the house along with his brothers and sisters, Dino, Maria, Ferdinando, and Leonardo, gave a modern organization to this tradition, creating a firm headquartered in Florence with nine estates in Tuscany and another in Friuli. There are some 2250 acres of vineyards in zones with very different soils and climates, source of the seven million high-level bottles produced annually. It is not easy to fully explain a complex reality such as this to customers, connoisseurs, and journalists. The Frescobaldi have succeeded by showing, in a large room, the significant elements of the major estates, proposing to visitors a virtual trip through this bio-diversity employing all five senses: aroma and taste, first and foremost, by tasting the most important wines along with the gastronomical specialities of their zones and identifying, one by one, fragrances and essences which the estate oenologist presents.
It is a kind of game which also involve sight, touch, and even sound, with carefully chosen music as accompaniment as well. An original way to get to know the historic Frescobaldi properties: Castello di Pomino, the Castiglioni estate, Castello di Nipozzano. And more recent acquisitions as well: Castelgiocondo in Montalcino, Santa Maria in the Tuscan Maremma, Luce della Vite, originally a joint-venture with the Mondavi family of Napa Valley in California, now entirely owned by Frescobaldi, and finally the Attems estate in the Collio hills of eastern Friuli. It is from the crus of Nipozzano that Montesodi and Mormoreto are made, while Lamaione comes from Castelgiocondo: the Super Tuscans which have given the greatest satisfaction to the family.

The Planeta family has been working with passion and commitment in various agricultural activities in the province of Agrigento for several generations and have been forerunners in many developments in Sicilian agriculture. Since 1995, the year of the first vintage in the Ulmo cellars, Planeta has expanded into other areas of the island, seeking out specific areas with different soils and micro-climates that would enable the house to produce wines with special character and personality. In order to realize this ambitious goal, the firm has made major efforts on behalf of Sicily’s native grapes, has sought out the finest international varieties which might adapt themselves to the specific conditions of the island, and has attempted to bring back to active life some of the oldest and most fascinating viticultural areas of Sicily. The overall Planeta project currently involves four different areas: Sambuca di Sicilia and Menfi in the province of Agrigento, Noto in the province of Siracusa, and Vittoria near Ragusa, gathering together in this way zones with greatly different oenological traditions but united by the fact that each produces high quality wines of true individual character. The newest estate of Planeta, instead, is located at north-northeastern slopes of Mount Etna in the Santo Spirito district, close to 3000 feet above sea level.
The gamut of house crus ranges from the Sicilian tradition, exemplified by Santa Cecilia, a Nero d’Avola from Noto, to international-style wines such as Burdese, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, a Chardonnay and a Merlot, all particularly popular both with wine guides and consumers.
The latter two have won a popularity which can be defined, without exaggeration, as planetary: the Chardonnay can be considered, beyond the shadow of a doubt, a cult wine not only in Italy but also in foreign markets, a success which can be explained by the exceptional pleasure it gives, its golden yellow color with green highlights, and a nose and palate which join freshness and opulence to a mineral character.
The Merlot, instead, is a red wine whose aromas are characterized by notes of red currants, ripe plums, and candied violets together with balsamic sensations of lemon and sage. Ample and velvety, it is, at the same time, powerful and supple, sweetned by its significant alcohol level and freshened by a light touch of acidity.
The three younger Planeta members who direct operations at the house under the supervision of the patriarch Diego: Alessio, Francesca, and Santi.

The estate was created in 1830 when brothers Lucio and Carmelo Mastrogiovanni Tasca purchased the former fiefdom of Regaleali, approximately 3,000 acres of land at Sclafani, near the border between the provinces of Palermo and Caltanissetta. It was directed in those first years by Lucio, who made it into a model estate. Regaleali has never ceased to be in the vanguard of Sicilian viticulture in its subsequent 120 years of activity when, at the end of the Second World War, the agrarian reform led to the confiscation of over a half of the original 3,000 acres, reducing the property to 1,250 acres: Count Giuseppe Tasca d’Almerita had the foresight to react vigorously and with real determination, giving wine and the vineyards a central place in operations and aiming exclusively at high quality. He was a pioneer in the cultivation with wire-trained vines, in reducing yields per hectare, and in the utilization of such native Sicilian grapes as Inzolia and Nero d’Avola. Also in experimenting, without any sense of prejudice, such international grapes as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Current operations are in charge of Count Lucio Tasca d’Almerita and his sons Giuseppe and Alberto: theirs was the decision to create a company, composed almost entirely of young Sicilians, which directs all of the strategic areas of production, from the budgetary matters to marketing, and sells the wine all over the world. From the heart of Sicily, from that ecological oasis which is called Regaleali, issue forth each year three million bottles of wine: four white wines, six red wines, two sparkling wines, and a dessert wine, all produced from authentic crus. Two were created by Giuseppe Tasca d’Almerita, father of Lucio: the Rosso del Conte, a Nero d’Avola perfected long before this grape variety became popular, aged in chestnut casks (which now have been replaced with oak), and Nozze d’Oro, a white wine realized to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his marriage to Baroness Franca Camarata. Among the white wines, the fleshy, elegant Chardonnay merits much attention, as does the aristocratic Cabernet Sauvignon among the reds. Increasing popular as well is the aromatic sweet wine Diamante d’Almerita, a blend of Moscato and Traminer.

The Tenute Ambrogio and Giovanni Folonari was born from the scission in the Ruffino winery when, in the year 2000, Ambrogio Folonari and his son Giovanni, decided to concentrate on high level wine, creating a collection of well located viticultural properties, particularly in Tuscany, which produce fine wine. The Folonari family has operated in the sector of wine since the 18th century and has contributed, over the years, to the writing of important chapters in the history of Italian, particularly Tuscan, wine. The purchase of Ruffino by the grandfather of Ambrogio Folonari, Italo Folonari, goes back to 1912; though originally from Brescia, the Folonari thus began a century of entrepreneurial activity on Tuscan soil. The current operation owns Nozzole, acquired in 1971, and Cabreo, both in Greve in Chianti, Torcalvano at Montepulciano, La Fuga in Montalcino, and other properties as well: Ronco dei Folo in the Colli Orientali del Friuli appellation, Campo al Mare in Bolgheri, Tenuta Conti Spalletti at Rufina, and the Tenuta Vigne a Porrona in the promising Montecucco DOC. The labels bear the trademark of the single estates which supply the grapes for the wines, a guarantee of the origin of the various offerings. Creativity, innovation, and a precise respect for the traditions of the various territories are the core principles of the company’s work in directing these very different properties. The two wines with the greatest tradition are unquestionably Pareto di Nozzole and Cabreo il Borgo: the former is a sumptuous Cabernet of great complexity and elegance, the second a blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet, one of the original Super Tuscan wines. Pareto, produced with a lengthy 16-18 month aging in small oak barrels and a further six month period of bottle aging, austere and concentrated but, at the same time, suave and supple, is an ideal match for the great dishes of the Tuscan kitchen, roasts and game. Cabreo, instead, is a noble synthesis of the typical elegance of the most rigorously selected clones of Chianti Classico Sangiovese, and the power of Cabernet Sauvignon which, at the Zano estate near Greve in Chianti, expresses its varietal character at maximum levels.