GERMAN BUSINESSMEN PLAY "WINE DERBY" IN TUSCANY. THE EICHBAUER FAMILY, SUPPORTING PODERE SALICUTTI, GEM OF BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO, VERSUS THE ROTHENBERGERS BETTING ON "ICARIO" PEARL OF THE NOBLE WINE OF MONTEPULCIANO

Top German entrepreneurial families are playing a sort of “derby” considering three key points: the most prestigious wine territories in Tuscany, wineries that focus on sustainability and environmental protection and typically buying them while keeping the founders that have developed the business successfully in management.
Their “playing field” includes the gems of Brunello di Montalcino and Nobile di Montepulciano.
WineNews published the news a few months ago that the Eichbauer family had bought Podere Salicutti (www.poderesalicutti.it), a gem in Montalcino founded by Francesco Leanza (11 hectares of which 3.7 vineyards, and the first in the territory to have obtained the certification for organic viticulture in 1996, the first year of production).
The Eichbauer family is one of the most important names in the construction industry in Germany that also founded the restaurant "Tantris" in Munich (historical haute cuisine outpost since the 70s, which had been awarded three stars in 1981 and today boasting two Michelin stars).
Now, the Rothenberger family, which together with Dr. Herbert Rothenberger Holding has developed a business yielding around one billion euros in the fields of mechanics, technology for environment and real estate, is preparing the debut of the first year of production at Vinitaly under its management of the Icario Estate in Montepulciano (http: //icario.it/). Twenty-two hectares in the land of Vino Nobile that the Rothenberger’s purchased in 2015 from the Cecchetti family who founded it in 1998 (and remained in the company’s management) paying particular attention to the environmental aspect (all the buildings are made of eco-friendly materials, such as natural hand wrought stone).
Tuscan wine has fascinated primarily American and British fans in the recent past, but now it seems to be back on top of German fans’ desires, too (a few days ago, according to WineNews rumors, a young Austrian entrepreneur purchased the majority of one of the pearls in the Bolgheri territory, Tenuta Argentiera, and he also focused on the prestige of the area, the beauty and the relationship with the environment, leaving the management of the company to the Fratini family).