Col d'Orcia

Col d'Orcia, the hill overlooking the Orcia river, has a winemaking history dating back to the 1700s. In 1933 the Fattoria di Sant'Angelo in Colle presented its Brunello at the First Market Exhibition of Typical Italian Wines, held at the Fortezza Medicea. In 1958 heirs Leopoldo and Stefano Franceschi divided the family estate in two, establishing Il Poggione and Col d'Orcia. Stefano Franceschi, without heirs, later put Col d'Orcia up for sale; the dossier reached the Turin offices of Cinzano, and Count Alberto Marone Cinzano decided to invest. The Marone Cinzano family purchased the estate in 1973 and planted new vineyards. When the family arrived, the large Slavonian oak casks still held the last Brunello vintage awaiting bottling, the 1968. Rosso di Montalcino was granted DOC status in 1983; the estate credits the commercial insight and political effort of Count Alberto Marone Cinzano, and the work of Enzo Tiezzi, at the time president of the Consorzio and director of Col d'Orcia. The ageing cellar, inaugurated in 1990, houses the large Slavonian and Allier oak casks in which the Brunello waits to be bottled. Count Francesco Marone Cinzano, the second generation, took the helm of Col d'Orcia in 1992.

• 1958: Col d'Orcia established when the Franceschi family estate was divided in two, alongside Il Poggione.
• 1973: purchased by the Marone Cinzano family, who planted new vineyards.
• 1983: Rosso di Montalcino granted DOC status; 1990: the ageing cellar inaugurated.
• 1992: Count Francesco Marone Cinzano took the helm.

The estate's people page lists Count Francesco Marone Cinzano as Chairman, Valerio Chechi as head agronomist (Agronomo Responsabile), and Antonino Tranchida and Guido Bracalente as oenologists (Enologo). The estate links Count Francesco Marone Cinzano with his sons Alberto and Santiago in its long process toward sustainability, and names Santiago Marone Cinzano as the third generation of the family in Montalcino. Agronomic leadership passed from long-time collaborator Giuliano Dragoni to Valerio Chechi.

• Chairman: Count Francesco Marone Cinzano.
• Head agronomist: Valerio Chechi, who succeeded long-time collaborator Giuliano Dragoni; oenologists: Antonino Tranchida and Guido Bracalente.
• Santiago Marone Cinzano is the third generation of the family in Montalcino.

The estate extends across a single body of 520 hectares on the southern slope of the Municipality of Montalcino, between 200 and 450 metres above sea level on the hill of Sant'Angelo, at the gateway to the Val d'Orcia and between Monte Amiata and the Tyrrhenian Sea. The area is favourable for sun exposure and protected from the harsher temperatures of nearby Monte Amiata, and the Mediterranean climate and the proximity to the Tyrrhenian Sea allow for gradual and complete ripening of the grapes. The vineyards cover 150 hectares, and the estate also includes 90 hectares of woodland of holm oaks, oaks, strawberry trees and juniper. Col d'Orcia's Denomination of Origin wines are made entirely from grapes grown in its own vineyards on the Sant'Angelo hill.

• 520 hectares in a single body: 150 hectares of vineyards and 90 hectares of woodland.
• Between 200 and 450 metres above sea level on the hill of Sant'Angelo, on Montalcino's southern slope.
• Denomination of Origin wines made entirely from estate-grown grapes.

The conversion to fully organic management of the estate began in 2010, and 2013 was the year of certification and of the first organic harvest. Col d'Orcia is the largest certified organic vineyard in Tuscany. Count Francesco Marone Cinzano decided in 2009 to transform the estate into an organic farm, and puts it this way: 'We care for the land, we cultivate the vine, and wine is the consequence of the grapes we harvest.' The vineyards are managed on the principles of organic viticulture, drawing on biodynamic practices: compost is produced on the estate from manure and organic material, biodynamic preparations support the vine's physiology, and mulching retains soil moisture. Alongside viticulture the estate practises olive growing, arable crops, fruit trees and honey production. As of January 2021, spelt and durum wheat were sown across 200 hectares for pasta flour, and flowering plants across 60 hectares for the estate's 200 beehives, owned by a local honey producer. A natural water reserve fed exclusively by rainwater supports the estate's wildlife, and a census carried out in 2025 recorded nine species of conservation interest. Count Francesco Marone Cinzano was a prime mover behind the Comitato Promotore Montalcino Bio, a legally binding biodiversity charter signed by representatives of 47 Montalcino businesses.

• 2010: conversion to fully organic management began; 2013: certification and first organic harvest.
• Organic viticulture drawing on biodynamic practices: estate compost, biodynamic preparations, mulching.
• Polyculture: olives, arable crops, fruit trees and honey alongside the vines.
• A 2025 census recorded nine species of conservation interest on the estate.

The lineup includes Brunello di Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino Vigna Nastagio, Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Poggio al Vento, Rosso di Montalcino, Rosso di Montalcino Vigna Banditella, Olmaia, Nearco, Moscadello di Montalcino Pascena, Chianti Gineprone, Pinot Grigio, Spezieri and the Chardonnay Ghiaie Bianche. Poggio al Vento is the site Count Alberto Marone Cinzano chose in 1974 for the estate's finest Sangiovese vineyard, at 300 metres between the Orcia river and the Sant'Angelo hill; in the best vintages it yields the Riserva. Vigna Nastagio is an 8-hectare Sangiovese vineyard planted in 2006 on clay soils rich in limestone around Podere Nastagio, a farm already shown on the Leopoldine maps, a little over 200 metres above sea level, using clones from a massal selection made with the University of Florence on old estate vineyards dating from the 1940s. Vigna Banditella takes its name from the place name Fosso delle Bandite; the project was conceived in 1989 and fully developed in 1998. Olmaia, the first of Col d'Orcia's Super Tuscans, is a Cabernet Sauvignon cru from the last vineyard planted by Count Alberto Marone Cinzano, in 1984, in front of Poggio al Vento; its first harvest was in 1989. Nearco, the second of the two Super Tuscans, is a Bordeaux blend born in the new millennium from 60% Merlot, 20 to 25% Cabernet Sauvignon depending on the vintage, and Syrah and Petit Verdot. The estate also makes Grappa from the Sangiovese pomace of its Brunello, Extra Virgin Olive Oil from its 5,500 olive trees, honey, and Birra Driade beer from barley grown in the Val d'Orcia.

• Brunello crus: Riserva Poggio al Vento (vineyard planted 1974) and Vigna Nastagio (8 hectares, planted 2006).
• Rosso di Montalcino and Rosso di Montalcino Vigna Banditella (conceived 1989, fully developed 1998).
• Super Tuscans: Olmaia (Cabernet Sauvignon, planted 1984, first harvest 1989) and Nearco (60% Merlot with Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Petit Verdot).
• Also Moscadello di Montalcino Pascena, Chianti Gineprone, Pinot Grigio, Spezieri and Ghiaie Bianche, plus Grappa, olive oil, honey and Birra Driade beer.

Ageing takes place mostly in large Slavonian and Allier oak casks. The Brunello di Montalcino, made from the best grapes harvested in all of the estate's vineyards, ages for 32 to 36 months in large Slavonian oak casks, followed by a further 6 to 12 months in bottle. The Riserva Poggio al Vento needs long, traditional ageing in large oak casks, then another 3 years in bottle, and is released in the seventh year after the harvest. Vigna Nastagio spends its first year in French oak tonneaux, the next two in large Slavonian oak casks and more than a year in bottle. Rosso di Montalcino reaches the market one year after the harvest, and Vigna Banditella uses barriques and tonneaux for its first year of ageing, followed by six more months before release. Olmaia ages for 24 months in medium-toast barriques of French oak (95%) and American oak (5%), and Nearco spends 18 months in barrique and a year in bottle. Col d'Orcia names respect, for Sangiovese and for tradition, as its key word in the vineyard and the cellar, holding that Brunello needs both time and space. The estate's Library holds dozens of Brunello vintages, amounting to tens of thousands of bottles of Brunello, Riserva and Poggio al Vento, and visitors may taste any vintage of Brunello from 1964.

• Brunello: 32 to 36 months in large Slavonian oak casks, then 6 to 12 months in bottle.
• Riserva Poggio al Vento: 3 further years in bottle, released in the seventh year after the harvest.
• Olmaia: 24 months in barrique; Nearco: 18 months in barrique and a year in bottle.
• The Library holds tens of thousands of bottles across dozens of Brunello vintages.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://coldorcia.it/en/home, https://coldorcia.it/en/history, https://coldorcia.it/en/people, https://coldorcia.it/en/from-our-land, https://coldorcia.it/en/nature, https://coldorcia.it/en/the-wine, https://coldorcia.it/en/historic-vintages, https://coldorcia.it/news-eng/wine-enthusiast-honors-col-dorcia-the-historic-brunello-estate-led-by-the-marone-cinzano-family-is-named-environmental-advocate-of-the-year, https://coldorcia.it/en/wine-tours, https://coldorcia.it/vini/brunello-di-montalcino, https://coldorcia.it/vini/poggio-al-vento, https://coldorcia.it/vini/brunello-di-montalcino-vigna-nastagio, https://coldorcia.it/vini/rosso-di-montalcino, https://coldorcia.it/vini/olmaia, https://coldorcia.it/vini/nearco, https://coldorcia.it/vini/rosso-di-montalcino-vigna-banditella, https://coldorcia.it/vini/moscadello-di-montalcino-pascena. Official body: Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino, https://www.consorziobrunellodimontalcino.it/en/1432/col-d-orcia. Secondary sources: Decanter (Monty Waldin, published 7 December 2015; Monty Waldin, last updated 19 January 2021). Last verified 2026-10-19. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.