Querciabella

Querciabella dates to 1974, when Giuseppe (Pepito) Castiglioni, an industrial entrepreneur and wine collector, acquired a small estate in Ruffoli, on the hillside above Greve in Chianti, intending to make wines that could carry Tuscany's character to the world. Between 1980 and 1995 Pepito planted French grape varieties, created Camartina and Batàr, acquired more vineyards and built a new cellar. In the mid-1990s his son, Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni, took over from his father and committed the estate to organic farming and, in 2000, to full plant-based biodynamic viticulture. Under Sebastiano the estate introduced Palafreno, Mongrana, Turpino and its first single-vineyard Chianti Classicos, and in 2004 Camartina 2000 won Best Italian Wine. Pepito Castiglioni died in 2003.

In July 2024, after a consensual agreement between siblings Sebastiano and Mita Castiglioni, ownership passed to Mita, Pepito's eldest daughter, keeping the estate in family hands; Sebastiano stepped away to focus on his art dealership business. Mita divides her time between Mexico and Italy and has served on the boards of several companies. She leads Querciabella with her children Andrea and Selene. At the July 2024 transition, Andrea was relocating from Oregon, where he runs a farm, and Selene was living in Barcelona; she has worked with Mexican institutions and nonprofit environmental organizations. CEO Roberto Lasorte oversees day-to-day management. The company's registered office is at Via Saffi 21, Milan; the winery and cellar door are in Greve in Chianti.

Querciabella farms over 50 hectares of Chianti Classico vineyards and 42 hectares in Maremma. Ruffoli, above Greve in Chianti, remains its primary Chianti Classico site, which the estate describes as the home of its most iconic wines; vineyards in Radda in Chianti and, more recently, Lamole have expanded its presence in the appellation. The Chianti Classico vineyards range from about 350 to nearly 700 metres above sea level: higher Ruffoli sites sit on lighter, skeletal galestro soils, lower Ruffoli vineyards on galestro with clay, Lamole (almost 700 metres) on sandy soils with clay and schist, and Radda on cooler, rockier ground with diurnal temperature swings. In Maremma, the coastal vineyards lie at the back of the Uccellina Hills near Alberese, Grosseto, on sandy loam soils with clay. They include Banditella 1 (20 hectares, the original vineyard, acquired in 1997), Banditella 3 (16 hectares, purchased in 2002) and Vallemaggiore (5.6 hectares, acquired in 2023 and newly planted with Vermentino, Syrah, Grenache, Viognier and Mourvèdre). The vineyards are certified organic and farmed under plant-based (vegan) biodynamic practices, using only cover crops and plant-material composts rather than animal inputs.

Camartina, the flagship Super Tuscan, was first made in 1981, part of the movement of Tuscan producers working outside Chianti Classico's traditional rules. It was originally about 70% Sangiovese and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon (with a little Merlot); the proportions have since shifted toward Cabernet Sauvignon as the variety adapted to Ruffoli's sandstone slopes. It is made only in favorable vintages, matured 18 months in French oak barriques and released no sooner than 30 months after harvest, with about 10,000 bottles a year at 14.5% alcohol. Batàr, from Ruffoli, was first made in 1988 as a blend of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris called Bâtard-Pinot. Chardonnay joined the blend for the 1992-1994 vintages, released as Bâtard, and in 1995 the wine was renamed Batàr to avoid confusion with the Burgundy AOCs whose names contain the word Bâtard. Today Batàr is Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco, barrel-fermented and aged 9 months in French oak, with about 16,000 bottles a year at 14% alcohol. The Chianti Classico DOCG, called simply Querciabella, has been the centerpiece of the estate's production since the beginning; it is sourced from Ruffoli, Lamole and Radda and matured 24 months in total, including 12 months in French oak, with about 160,000 bottles a year at 14% alcohol. The estate made a Riserva only in the best vintages through 1999 and did not release another until the 2011 vintage, in 2014; it is 100% Sangiovese aged 16 months in French oak barriques and tonneaux, with about 10,000 bottles a year. Beginning with the 2021 vintage, the estate has released three single-UGA Gran Selezione wines, all 100% Sangiovese: Gran Selezione Greve, from 15 hectares in Ruffoli (about 2,600 bottles a year); Gran Selezione Radda, from the Oasi and Bagnaccio vineyards in Radda in Chianti (about 2,600 bottles); and Gran Selezione SA-LA, from the Casole vineyard in Lamole (about 2,800 bottles). Palafreno is a Merlot from Ruffoli, first made in 2000 and released only in years of near-perfect ripening (about 6,000 bottles a year). Maremma-based wines include Turpino, a Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Merlot blend first made in 2007 (not released) that debuted officially in 2010 and has excluded Chianti fruit since 2017 (about 8,900 bottles a year at 14.5% alcohol); Mongrana, a Merlot- and Sangiovese-led red with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and other Maremma red grapes, first made in 2005 under the Maremma Toscana DOC (about 77,000 bottles a year); and Mongrana Bianco, a Vermentino from the Maremma coast first made in 2020 (about 18,000 bottles a year).

Querciabella was named Cantina dell'Anno (Winery of the Year) in Daniele Cernilli's DoctorWine Essential Guide to Italian Wines 2025. Camartina 2000 won Best Italian Wine in 2004, and the 2019 vintage made James Suckling's Top 100 World Wines 2023 list. Jancis Robinson, tasting a 17-year-old Camartina, remarked, "Oo, that is rather lovely!" Batàr has drawn comparisons with white Burgundy: Hugh Johnson called it "a dream of a white" and Jancis Robinson likened it to a "successful Corton-Charlemagne." Tom Harrow of the Financial Times called it "Tuscany's most complex and ambitious white wine." Critics who have reviewed the estate's wines include Antonio Galloni (Vinous), James Suckling, Jancis Robinson, Bruce Sanderson (Wine Spectator), Daniele Cernilli (DoctorWine) and Decanter's team.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://querciabella.com/, https://querciabella.com/history/, https://querciabella.com/vineyards-2/, https://querciabella.com/wines/, https://querciabella.com/buying/, https://querciabella.com/visiting/, https://querciabella.com/wine/querciabella-chianti-classico/, https://querciabella.com/wine/camartina/, https://querciabella.com/wine/batar/, https://querciabella.com/wine/turpino/, https://querciabella.com/wine/querciabella-gran-selezione/, https://querciabella.com/wine/palafreno/, https://querciabella.com/wine/mongrana/, https://querciabella.com/wine/mongrana-bianco/, https://querciabella.com/wine/querciabella-riserva/, https://querciabella.com/wine/gran-selezione-radda/, https://querciabella.com/wine/gran-selezione-sa-la/. Secondary sources: Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico, https://www.chianticlassico.com/en/estates/querciabella/; The Drinks Business, https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/07/querciabella-to-remain-in-family-ownership/ (17 July 2024); DoctorWine, https://www.doctorwine.wine/pot-pourri-en/wine-world-news/mita-castiglioni-sole-owner-of-querciabella/?lang=en (23 July 2024). Last verified 2026-10-12. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs; where the producer's current site and an older secondary source disagree on vineyard acreage, the current site figure is used and the discrepancy is logged (see conflicts.json).