In Montepulciano Bindella acquires Le Casalte: total investment of 17 million euros

Once again, the world of wine is proving to be particularly lively and capable of attracting new investments. This time, the protagonist is a historic area of Tuscan wine production, such as Nobile di Montepulciano, where Bindella, a company founded in 1983, when Rudi Bindella - a Swiss entrepreneur at the head of a group with a 200 million euro turnover in catering and distribution of great wines - decided to invest in the few hectares of vines of the former Tenuta Vallocaia, in the area of Argiano (Acquaviva), now 53, but ready, as told by “Il Sole 24 Ore”, to exceed 65. With a total investment that, over the years, will reach 17 million euros, from the vineyards to the completion of the cellar, in fact, the Swiss group has taken over Le Casalte, 13 hectares of Nobile, Rosso di Montepulciano and IGT Toscana vineyards in Sant’Albino, on the southern side, owned since 1975 by the family of Chiara Barioffi, who has led the company since 1999, working, among others, with the master of Sangiovese Giulio Gambelli.

The Bindella family was already importing demijohns of Chianti into Switzerland at the beginning of the 20th century. These were the first steps of what, over the years, would become one of the country’s most important groups in wine distribution and catering. In 1983, Rudi Bindella bought a small property in the historic heart of Montepulciano wine production: Vallocaia, a ruin and two and a half hectares of vineyards. Which year after year became bigger and bigger, acquiring new vineyards and renewing the old plants, but also the winery, which today is one of the flagships of Nobile di Montepulciano, especially after the extension and modernization works of the winery, completed in 2018 and signed by Moretti Costruzioni.

One of the most important collaborations between wine and restaurants is the Ornellaia Restaurant in Zurich, which opened thanks to Bindella, its long-time importer and ambassador in Switzerland.