TENUTA LA FARNETA, THE HISTORICAL FAMILY OF ANTINORI WINE’S LATEST ACQUISITION, HAS A LOT OF WORK TO BE DONE BEFORE ITS FUTURE CAN BE DETERMINED. THE CEO RENZO COTARELLA, TOLD WINENEWS “THE TERRITORY IS SUITABLE BUT VINEYARDS NEED TO BE REIMPLANTED”

The most recent purchase of the historic family of Italian wine Antinori was Tenuta La Farneta, bought for an investment of 5.5 million euros, at the auction held by the Court of Siena, in which another century-old Tuscan wine brand, Frescobaldi participated, in a sort of gentleman’s Renaissance style duel. Both Florentine families, in their long and noble history, have conquered markets all over the world, and now is the moment to think about the future. There is talk of an impressive nineteenth-century villa, three farms and a winery, and the property is surrounded by 100 hectares of vineyards, which, as Renzo Cotarella, CEO of the Antinori group (www.antinori.it), told WineNews, “for the most part the vineyards will be re-implanted, as they are almost all too old and unproductive”. The good news is that it is “a territory (Chianti Colli Senesi, in Sinalunga, not far from Siena, ed.), which I know quite well. The first time I came here was 30 years ago with Giacomo Tachis; there are clay limestone soils, with lots of stone, continental climate, in the hills 400 meters above sea level. The potential could be enormous, obviously with Sangiovese, but also with another vine that behaves well here, Cabernet Sauvignon”.
So far it is not easy to understand what will become of La Farneta, but the road, at least in terms of intentions, should be the same one followed in the other Antinori estates. “At Le Mortelle, like La Braccesca and other companies”, continued Renzo Cotarella, “we gave them a very precise and distinctive corporate identity, including important and characteristic wines. This process, which points to wines at a high-end price, however, cannot ignore quality. We cannot invent anything, and therefore we must understand what level we will be able to achieve. It will take patience, but the basic idea is still”, concluded the CEO of the Antinori Group, “to give attributes and identity to Tenuta La Farneta, which distinguishes it from other companies in the group, but its grapes will nevertheless contribute to the production of the best known wines, such as Santa Cristina”.
This latest acquisition has strengthened Marchesi Antinori’s position as the number Italian group for hectares of vineyards, which now count to 2.781, and also confirms its reputation as the second wine brand for profitability (42.30%), behind another prestigious wine brand, Tenuta San Guido. Antinori’s achievements, thanks to a authentic production galaxy, go from the Bargino Estate in the heart of Chianti Classico, as well as those of Tignanello, Pèppoli and Badia a Passignano, Guado al Tasso in Bolgheri, Pian delle Vigne in Montalcino, Fattoria Aldobrandesca and Le Mortelle in Maremma, La Braccesca in Montepulciano, Prunotto in the Langhe, Tormaresca in Puglia, Castello della Sala in Umbria, Tenuta Montenisa in Franciacorta. And again in Tuscany, Santa Cristina and Tenuta Monteloro, Stag’s Leap and Col Solare in the USA, Haras de Pirque in Chile, Tuzko in Hungary, Meridiana in Malta and Vitis Metamorfosis in Romania.