Giovanni Folonari |
Country of Origin: Italy
Location: Greve in Chianti, Florence
People: Giovanni & Ambrogio Folonari, Owners | Franco Bernabei, Winemaker
Villa di Zano is an estate located in the hills surrounding Greve in Chianti. The landscape is characterized by rows in "ritocchino" (that means oriented towards the maximum slope of the hill) and the vineyards have the best sun exposure, with its rays lighting the rows from the first hours of the day. An ideal microclimate for the growing of vines and especially for the "king" of Tuscan red grape varieties, Sangiovese. Because of these particular conditions, since the year 2000 Giovanni Folonari developed a wine project to celebrate the magnificence of Sangiovese and to renew the tradition of Tuscan wine.
The Folonaris are among Italy's oldest and most prestigious Tuscan wine families with a winemaking history dating back to the late 1700s. In 1825 the family-owned business took the name "Fratelli Folonari" and adopted the mission of developing, producing and distributing the finest Italian wines throughout the world. In 1912, Italo Folonari – Ambrogio Folonari's grandfather – and his brother Francesco purchased the Ruffino company in Tuscany that was famous for its Chianti wine in straw-covered flasks.
After World War II, major changes in terms of economic development and improving standards of living began taking place in Italy. This also affected the wine industry where the Folonari family and Ambrogio in particular were among the first to promote this trend by producing new, high quality wines that contributed to creating the "new frontier" of the Italian wine. At the end of the 1960s the family sold the "Fratelli Folonari" company that concentrated on table wines and began devoting themselves to estate-bottled wines. "My family has been in the wine business for many generations. My grandfather and father thought that the Folonari wines were great at a certain price point, but realized that consumers were about to change their ideas; drink less but higher quality - and sought to make more distinctive wines. So, in 1968, we sold the Folonari winery"
In 2000, the Folonari family redefined its company structure. Ambrogio and Giovanni left Ruffino (as the president) and the rest of the family, and established "Ambrogio e Giovanni Folonari Tenute", to focus on small-lot, estate-grown wines, committing to reinvesting, developing and expanding vineyard holdings in the interest of producing high-quality wines. They also held onto some of the best properties. "My commercially oriented relatives kept Ruffino, our larger winery. My father Ambrogio and I - ever-involved in producing wine and planting vineyards - inherited four estates: Nozzole, Cabreo (previously marketed as Ruffino), Spalletti (Chianti), and Fattoria di Graciano (Montepulciano). We wanted these because we felt Tuscany was ideal for both traditional and innovate winemaking of terroir-oriented wines". The Tenute del Cabreo are among this entity's holdings, and consist of two properties in the Greve district: the Casa di Sala and the Fattoria di Zano, which together support 125 acres of vines yielding exclusively estate produced wines. The Fattoria di Zano, purchased in 1967, is graced by a lovely villa and chapel overlooking the village of Greve from the crest of a steep hillside. It is Ambrogio and Giovanni Folonari's philosophy to produce distinctive, small-production wines from a portfolio of estates, exclusively from owned grapes, which reflect their individual terroirs. "Though we own several estates, my father and I can manage this company more easily as we only make a little of everything. Job #1 is still the winemaking. I studied fermentation science, enology and viticulture at UC Davis; my father studied winemaking his whole life."
The Zano vineyards from which Villa di Zano is produced lie at an altitude of 1,050 feet with vines planted to a density of 3,000 to 5,000 vines per hectare (1,215 to 2,025 vines per acre). The grapes achieve optimum ripeness and are picked at different times: the Sangiovese first, in the first half of October. Focus is on the most gentle treatment possible of the grapes during production. "America sees lots of high-concentration wines. You may notice that among highly concentrated wines, elegance can be compromised. On one hand, you get tons of fruit and huge structure, on the other they're often rich and jammy, and better away from the table with a cigar than with meals. So Chianti Classico is coming back, getting more appreciation. We don't want to change the style, unlike some producers, who increase concentration in hopes to achieve higher scores and more attention. We want Chianti to taste traditional, but in a more modern way, concentrated but still with high acidity. We want to keep the elegance."
Giovanni and his wife Eleonora live with their three children at the Cabreo Estate in Greve, 30 minutes from Florence.
Vineyard Surface: 50 ha
Total Surface: 105 ha
Training System: Spurred cordon
Vineyard Density: 5000/3300 plants per hectare
Age of Vineyard: 36-5 years old
Rootstocks: 20, K5BB, 110R, 775B
Harvest System: Manual
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| Current Items from Villa di Zano |
| Cat # |
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Pack-Size |
Net |
Reviews |
| 5665 |
Villa di Zano 2008 Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG |
12-750 |
$180 |
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| 6948 |
Villa di Zano 2012 Chianti DOCG |
12-750 |
$108 |
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| 6747 |
Villa di Zano 2011 Toscana IGT |
12-750 |
$96 |
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