Della Gherardesca: history in the land, future in wine with Prosit Group, in Bolgheri and Montalcino

The Della Gheradesca family boasts twelve centuries of very important presence in the Bolgheri area, made a place of great agriculture first and great wine, by others, but over much of the land owned by the Della Gherardesca family. That Bolgheri made it immortal, creating, with the work of Count Guido Alberto della Gherardesca in the nineteenth century, that Avenue of the Cypresses “che a Bólgheri alti e schietti, van da San Guido in duplice filar”, made famous by the great poet Giosuè Carducci, which today are the icon and symbol of one of the most important denominations in Italy. A history, that of the Della Gherardesca, intertwined with that of great historic wine families, but never ended up in the bottle and on the label. Until now at least, because now, thanks to the collaboration between Prosit Group, led by Sergio Dagnino (which puts together, just to name two, from the Cantina di Montalcino, in Montalcino, to Torrevento, in Puglia, a stone’s throw from the millennial Castel Del Monte, erected by Frederick II of Swabia) and Count Gaddo della Gherardesca, opens this new chapter of wine history, with the arrival of the labels “Gaddo della Gherardesca Bolgheri Rosso Doc 2022”, of the “Sibilla della Gherardesca Toscana Rosè Igt 2023”, “Le Vedute della Gherardesca Vermentino Toscana Igt 2023”, but also of the “Della Gherardesca Brunello di Montalcino 2019”.
“The importance of this partnership for Prosit Group is strategic, aimed at consolidating its position as an innovative market player: advancing the production of wines that reflect the excellence of the terroir of Bolgheri and other Roscana icons is an important message for those seeking opportunities in the wine sector with a strong territorial identity. This is an innovative partnership that puts new wine production at the center of a prestigious territory capable of offering products of great value. Our business model fits perfectly with the tradition and vision of a historic family that has always known how to make every union special, as well as with Gaddo’s attitude of always looking ahead. This new partnership under the banner of collaboration and being part of a whole leads us to new horizons and new prospects for investment in the sector”, said Sergio Dagnino, Prosit Group ceo & founder in presenting the project at Castello di Bolgheri, owned by Gaddo della Gherardesca. Who, interviewed by WineNews, told why, at 74, he also wanted to become a wine producer. “After 74 years of always drinking other people’s wine, I decided to give something back. Having among my relatives people like the Antinori and the Incisa della Rocchetta, people of a very great relevance in the world of wine, I had always said that in a family if someone makes wine someone else has to drink it, because if everyone produces the accounts don’t add up. But, at some point, I then decided to start producing, I have to say stimulated by Prosit Group, and by Sergio Dagnino. I definitely would not have done it alone: one of the fundamental things in life is humility, to think you can do everything by yourself is foolish. I have always loved wine, I have always been able to appreciate it, I come from the land, my family has been there on the land 12 centuries, but I have always had respect for those who made wine, appreciating its qualities. I met Prosit Group, it proposed this collaboration ... And so we started”. With a wine project, then, that does not stop with the production of the “red” of the Count’s heart, Bolgheri, but will see him produce Brunello di Montalcino as well. With which, in some way, the family has a connection.
“Prosit Group owns the Cantina di Montalcino, which is in the province of Siena. After all, my family, the castle closest to Siena was Frosini, so we were touching the edges of the Sienese, we were neighbors, we had different disagreements, but also like different alliances. The wife of Count Ugolino (the one sung in Dante’s Divine Comedy, ed.), was Margherita Pannocchieschi d’Elci, from a great Sienese family. Brunello di Montalcino is a wine that I have always respected, that has opened, before Bolgheri and before others, the markets of the world, so it was quite automatic to be able to combine the two areas, also because then I wanted to affirm, with this collaboration of mine, the Tuscan character. I have always loved Tuscany. In Milan, where I've lived for many years, they tease me, saying I’m a partisan of Tuscany, but it’s hard not to be, just look at it. There is everything, there is beauty, history, elegance, landscape, sea, mountains and great wines. I liked doing this operation”. And regarding the reason why the choice of partner fell on Prosit Group, Gaddo Della Gherardesca, who doesn’t mince words, explains, “someone asked me why I didn’t rent the vineyards, but I rent the vineyards to those who ask me, like to my cousin Lodovico Antinori, another great figure in world wine. Prosit Group asked me for this project, I liked it, it seemed useful to get those companies that have quality but are too small to access the market off the ground by putting them all together, and I accepted their proposal. And now this journey begins. I am 74 years old, and I don’t know how long I can carry it on, but in our house we die very old, so I hope to have a long time ahead of me. And then it starts from the land, and we Della Gherardesca, as much as we are citizens of the world, have always belonged to the land. People who have lived for 12 centuries in one place cannot change because they have lived for 30 years in Milan. I am always a resident of the municipality of Castagneto Carducci, and I have lived in Milan since 1979. You don’t give up your origins, because, in my opinion, knowing where you come from helps you know where you have to go. All this I have also done out of respect for my ancestors who developed agriculture as early as the 17th century, respect for my grandfather who made a white wine, Castello di Donoratico, very good, but in times when wine cost nothing, so I have tried to give credit to this long history by also doing my part. Which will be a modest part, nothing extraordinary, but the important thing as De Coubertin said is to participate, then you also try to win”.
The Della Gherardesca family, ancestors of Count Gaddo, pioneered modern agriculture in Bolgheri and pioneered the success of Bolgheri wines around the world. So it comes to ask Gaddo della Gherardesca what he thinks about the future of Bolgheri. “I always think that the future is always there for anyone who has knowledge of the previous development of the territory, and has the ability to fit into a groove traced centuries ago. It is necessary that this furrow hosts the coherence of those who inhabit it today, and it seems to me that this is happening. Bolgheri has undergone incredible development, and credit must be given to my uncle Mario Incisa della Rocchetta (“inventor” of Sassicaia, ed.), and to Niccolò Antinori, his brother-in-law, who took over its distribution, both married to a Della Gherardesca. Without them, Sassicaia would not have had the success it has had, and all those great producers who are now part of the Bolgheri Consortium would not have come after them. I know many of them, I know their seriousness, their dedication, so I think the Bolgheri area can have an important development. Everyone has to do his part. There is no limit if one is committed. Even the municipal administrations. I think of the Avenue of Cypresses, which is made of cypress trees because Guidalberto della Gherardesca had tried before with other trees, which, however, were being eaten by buffaloes”, Gaddo Della Gherardesca says, “and so in the end they opted for this tree that nobody eats. The administrations gave an important signal, which I had been waiting for years, by cleaning up the sides of the avenue, which allow you to see the countryside. And, thanks to the Incisas, who have maintained the Gherardesca Estate, you see spectacular countryside. As it existed 100 years ago”.
From the Encyclopedia Treccani to Zanichelli’s Dictionary of Comedy, where so many entries are dedicated to the Della Gherardesca, all that remains, then, is to update the long list of Italian wine producers as well.