San Giusto a Rentennano, a name of Etruscan origin, overlooks the upper course of the Arbia river in the further south Chianti Classico wine zone. The estate began life as a medieval monastery of Cistercian nuns and was called San Giusto alle Monache ("of the Nuns"). In 1204 it was fortified by the Florentines, after a treaty established it as their boundry with Siena. Only portions of the ancient fortification still stand, its crenellated battlements, massive barbican wall and underground vaults, used today as the ageing cellars for our wines.

For centur.........togliere

In 1957, it was inherited by Enrico Martini di Cigala and in 1992, passed to his children, of whom Francesco, Luca and Elisabetta now manage the property.

The estate is comprised of 160 hectares, situated at an average altitude of 260 meters above sea level. 31 hectares are planted in vineyards, 11 in olive groves, 40 in woods, 78 in cultivated and grazing lands. The terrain is composed of various soils rich in different mineral components, sand, clay, lime, alkali, volcanic ash, argil and calcium. The microclimate is characterized by considerable day and night temperature differences and often ex heat during harvest time.

All the vineyards enjoy exceptionally favourable exposure . From the oldest vineyards , planted 35-40 years ago, we select superior autochthonic Sangiovese and Canaiolo clones to graft onto our new vines. The estate also has prime, unplanted terrain which inables us to rotate the cultivation of our vineyards.

During the months of July and August, we thin-out the natural growth of grape bunches by 30-50%, a practice called "green harvesting," which encourages the full and perfect maturation of our grapes. Our farming methods remain largely manual and exclusively organic.

The estate is comprised of 160 hectares, situated at an average altitude of 260 meters above sea level. 30.5 hectares are planted in vineyards, 11 in olive groves, 40 in woods, 78 in cultivated and grazing lands. The terrain is composed of various soils rich in different mineral components, sand, clay, lime, alkali, volcanic ash, argil and calcium. The microclimate is characterized by considerable day and night temperature differences and often extreme heat during harvest time. All the vineyards enjoy exceptionally favourable exposure. From the oldest vineyards, planted 35-40 years ago, we select superior autochthonic Sangiovese and Canaiolo clones to graft onto our new vines.Since 1990 on we have been re-planting 15 hectares of vineyard at a density of 5000 plants per hectare, while in the old systems you find from 3000 to 3800 understocks.

Organic Farming.