Querciabella

Querciabella traces 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, under Pepito's guidance, the estate planted French grape varieties and created the Camartina and Batàr cuvees, acquired additional vineyards, and built a new cellar. In the mid-1990s his son, Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni, took over leadership from his father and steered the estate through a long period of sustainability-driven change, committing it to organic farming and, in 2000, to full plant-based biodynamic viticulture. During Sebastiano's tenure the estate also introduced Palafreno, Mongrana, Turpino and its first single-vineyard Chianti Classicos, and won Best Italian Wine in 2004 with the Camartina 2000. Pepito Castiglioni died in 2003.

In July 2024, following a consensual agreement between siblings Sebastiano and Mita Castiglioni, ownership passed to Mita, Pepito's eldest daughter, keeping the estate in family hands as Sebastiano stepped away to focus on his art dealership business. Mita, who divides her time between Mexico and Italy and has served on the boards of several companies, now leads Querciabella together with her children Andrea (who relocated from a farm he ran in Oregon) and Selene (previously based in Barcelona, with experience in Mexican institutions and nonprofit environmental organizations). CEO Roberto Lasorte continues to oversee the company's day-to-day management. The estate remains headquartered at Via Saffi 21, Milan, and operates its winery and cellar door in Greve in Chianti.

Querciabella farms over 50 hectares of Chianti Classico vineyards and 42 hectares in Maremma. Its primary Chianti Classico site remains Ruffoli, above Greve in Chianti, where the estate's most iconic wines are crafted; vineyard holdings in Radda in Chianti and, more recently, Lamole have expanded its presence in the appellation. 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 strong diurnal temperature swings. In Maremma, the estate's coastal vineyards sit at the back of the Uccellina Hills near Alberese, Grosseto, on sandy loam soils with clay; the holdings include the Banditella 1 parcel (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 estate's flagship Super Tuscan, was first made in 1981 as part of the wave of Tuscan producers experimenting outside Chianti Classico's traditional rules; it was originally a blend of about 70% Sangiovese and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon (with a little Merlot), and the proportions have shifted toward more Cabernet Sauvignon over time as the variety adapted to Ruffoli's sandstone slopes. It is made only in favorable vintages, matured 18 months in French oak barriques, released no sooner than 30 months after harvest, and produced in an annual run of about 10,000 bottles at 14.5% alcohol. Batàr, from Ruffoli, was first made in 1988 as a blend of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris under the name Bâtard-Pinot; Chardonnay was added to the blend for the 1992-1994 vintages, released simply as Bâtard, before the wine was renamed Batàr in 1995 to avoid confusion with the Burgundy AOCs that use the word Bâtard. Today Batàr is a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco. It is barrel-fermented and aged 9 months in French oak, with about 16,000 bottles produced annually at 14% alcohol. The estate's Chianti Classico DOCG bottling, called simply Querciabella, has been the centerpiece of the winery's production since the beginning, sourced from Ruffoli, Lamole and Radda and matured 24 months in total, including 12 months in French oak, with an annual production of about 160,000 bottles at 14% alcohol. A Riserva (first made in the best vintages through 1999, with the estate skipping the category until it returned with the 2011 vintage, released in 2014) is 100% Sangiovese aged 16 months in French oak barriques and tonneaux, producing about 10,000 bottles annually. Since 2021 the estate has also released three single-UGA Gran Selezione wines, all 100% Sangiovese: Gran Selezione Greve, from 15 hectares in Ruffoli (about 2,600 bottles annually); 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). Maremma-based wines include Palafreno, a Merlot first made in 2000 and released only in years of near-perfect ripening (about 6,000 bottles annually); Turpino, a blend of Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Merlot first made in 2007 (unreleased that year) with an official debut in 2010, which excluded Chianti fruit from its blend starting with the 2017 vintage (about 8,900 bottles annually 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 annually); and Mongrana Bianco, a Vermentino from the Maremma coast first made in 2020 (about 18,000 bottles annually).

Querciabella was named Cantina dell'Anno (Winery of the Year) in the DoctorWine Essential Guide to Italian Wines 2025, curated by Daniele Cernilli. Camartina was named Best Italian Wine in 2004 and the 2019 vintage appeared in James Suckling's Top 100 World Wines 2023 list; Jancis Robinson, tasting a 17-year-old vintage, remarked, "Oo, that is rather lovely!" Batàr has drawn comparisons to white Burgundy, with Hugh Johnson calling it "a dream of a white" and Jancis Robinson likening it to a "successful Corton-Charlemagne." Financial Times critic Tom Harrow has called it "Tuscany's most complex and ambitious white wine." The estate's wines have drawn reviews from critics including 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 2026-09-14. 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).