Podere Sapaio

In 1999 Massimo Piccin was working as an engineer in his family's construction company in Vittorio Veneto when he set out to follow his passion for gastronomy and wine. His father, Dario Piccin, supported the project alongside business partner and family friend Roy Bernard, and the Piccin and Bernard families acquired a small sharecropping farm in Bolgheri, cultivated mainly as arable land. Piccin made the first purchase, including 8 hectares of vineyards, in 1999, started planting in 2000, and by 2002 had relocated from the Veneto to Sapaio. The estate dates the creation of its two wines, Sapaio and Volpolo, to 2004; its wines page lists Sapaio technical sheets from the 2005 vintage and Volpolo from 2006. The operating company is Podere Sapaio sas, soc. agricola di M. Piccin & c., at Località Lo Scopaio in Castagneto Carducci.

• 1999: Massimo Piccin acquires the first property, including 8 hectares of vineyards
• 2000: planting begins
• 2002: Piccin relocates from the Veneto to Sapaio
• 2004: Sapaio and Volpolo are created
• 2015: Sapaio changes from Bolgheri Superiore to Toscana IGT

Massimo Piccin, the founder, is the owner of Podere Sapaio as of February 2025. Outside Bolgheri, Piccin produces Ansonica on the Isola del Giglio from the Paradiso dei Conigli vineyard; the 2022 Le Secche is an Ansonica del Paradiso dei Conigli under the Podere Sapaio name. Florence's Palazzo Strozzi has been a partner of the estate for many years.

• Massimo Piccin: founder; owner as of February 2025
• Dario Piccin (Massimo's father) and Roy Bernard (business partner and family friend): backers of the 1999 acquisition

Podere Sapaio lies on the Etruscan Coast, between the municipalities of Castagneto Carducci and Bibbona. Of its 40 hectares, 27 are vineyards: 18 hectares in Bolgheri and 9 in Bibbona, which has a slightly higher altitude and a breezier microclimate. The vineyards are planted exclusively to Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Sand and clay mix at depth with limestone of marine origin and round pebbles deposited by ancient waterways, and the estate counts 27 soil types in total. The vines are trained on a double cordon at 0.75 by 1.80 metres (7,500 vines per hectare) and harvested by hand with grape selection.

• 40 hectares in total; 27 hectares of vineyards (18 in Bolgheri, 9 in Bibbona)
• Grape varieties: Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot
• 27 soil types: sand and clay, marine limestone, round river pebbles
• Planting density 7,500 vines per hectare; manual harvest with grape selection

Viticulture at Sapaio is ethical and sustainable and based on prevention: the estate follows the rules of organic farming and goes a step further, using brown algae and kelp extracts to strengthen the plants and essential orange and propolis oils in their care. The technical sheets for Sapaio 2021 and Volpolo 2023 list both as organic wine. Alcoholic fermentation takes place in steel tanks at controlled temperature with long maceration on the skins, and malolactic fermentation in barriques. As of 2018, each variety and vineyard parcel was vinified and aged separately before blending. Volpolo spends 14 months in barriques and then matures as a blend in concrete vats, chosen for their more stable temperatures and neutral material. In the estate's wooden-vat ageing, the wine spends almost two years in French barriques and then completes its ageing in truncated-cone wooden vats.

• Fermentation in steel at controlled temperature, with long maceration
• Malolactic fermentation in barriques
• Volpolo: 14 months in barriques, then concrete vats before bottling
• Wooden-vat ageing: almost two years in French barriques, then truncated-cone wooden vats

Podere Sapaio makes two wines, both Cabernet Sauvignon blends. Volpolo is a Bolgheri DOC of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot; the 2023 is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 15% Petit Verdot, aged 14 months in French oak barriques, with 85,000 bottles produced. Sapaio blends Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot from Bolgheri and Bibbona; the 2021 is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Petit Verdot and 10% Cabernet Franc, aged 18 months in French oak barriques, with 14,000 bottles produced. The 2013 Sapaio was labelled DOC Bolgheri Superiore. With the 2015 vintage Piccin changed Sapaio to Toscana IGT because he was incorporating his Bibbona fruit into the blend: wines produced in Bibbona, even when blended with grapes from Bolgheri, must carry the Toscana IGT designation. Padiglione Sapaio, a building of over 1,000 square metres designed by Alvisi Kirimoto among the Bibbona vineyards and dedicated exclusively to Sapaio, is scheduled for completion by 2027.

• Volpolo, Bolgheri DOC: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot
• Sapaio, Toscana IGT since the 2015 vintage (Bolgheri Superiore before): Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot
• Le Secche: Ansonica from the Paradiso dei Conigli vineyard on the Isola del Giglio

The estate presents its range as 'Two wines, two different paths.' Sapaio 'loves ease and slowness'; Volpolo is 'A dreamer on a carefree day.' After its 14 months in barriques, Volpolo is meant to be 'ready to be enjoyed from the moment it is purchased,' while the wooden vats give 'less oxygenation and fewer notes of wood, while enhancing the varietal aromas and expression of terroir.' Piccin describes a winemaking philosophy 'that prioritizes simplicity and sensitivity.'

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.sapaio.com/en/, https://www.sapaio.com/en/the-vision/, https://www.sapaio.com/en/the-wine/, https://www.sapaio.com/en/the-places/, https://www.sapaio.com/en/the-cellar/, https://www.sapaio.com/en/journal/, https://www.sapaio.com/wine/sapaio-vino-2013.pdf, https://www.sapaio.com/wine/sapaio-vino-2015.pdf, https://www.sapaio.com/wine/sapaio-vino-2021.pdf, https://www.sapaio.com/wine/volpolo-vino-2023.pdf, https://www.sapaio.com/en/bringing-a-vision-to-life/, https://www.sapaio.com/en/sentieri-11-a-new-art-project-by-podere-sapaio/, https://www.sapaio.com/en/alvisi-kirimoto-designs-the-new-padiglione-sapaio/. Secondary sources: Decanter (Travel: Top Bolgheri wineries to visit, published 12 January 2018) and Wine Spectator (Bruce Sanderson, Bolgheri: Tuscany's Napa, 2018). Last verified 2026-10-14. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.