A new face for one of the most important hills in Italy in terms of wine, Montalcino. He is John Benda, of an English mother who grew up in Rome, and lived for many years in London, where his great passion for wine was born. The company, consisting of 2 hectares of vineyards surrounded by 16 hectares of owned woodland, is managed together with his Australian partner Zoe Johnson. The vineyards are located between 520 and 550 meters above sea level under the Lume Spento pass in the direction of Tavarnelle. Surrounded by woods, the 2 vineyards are born on different rock formations. The first vineyard, planted in 2006, is characterized by soils based on pietraforte, dating back to the Upper Cretaceous geological period, with alternating gray galestro: in these soils the presence of sand exceeds 60%, bringing great elegance to the wines. The second vineyard is older, planted in the 1990s on a rock formation dating back to the Paleocene period, where the soil features outcrops of quartz-feldspar siltstone and galestro (i.e. clayey schist), all supported by a high presence of limestone. In addition to his own production, John buys a small quantity of grapes suitable for Brunello every year from a farmer, respectful of the land and the grapes, coming from vines dating back to the 1970s, born on soils rich in Pliocene marine deposits. The fermentations are all spontaneous, with aging in large oak barrels, without any oenological embellishment but using modern microbiological analyses to monitor the maturation of the wine, in order to preserve its peculiarities. The current production is around 11,000 bottles per year.

A new face for one of the most important hills in Italy in terms of wine, Montalcino. He is John Benda, of an English mother who grew up in Rome, and lived for many years in London, where his great passion for wine was born. The company, consisting of 2 hectares of vineyards surrounded by 16 hectares of owned woodland, is managed together with his Australian partner Zoe Johnson. The vineyards are located between 520 and 550 meters above sea level under the Lume Spento pass in the direction of Tavarnelle. Surrounded by woods, the 2 vineyards are born on different rock formations. The first vineyard, planted in 2006, is characterized by soils based on pietraforte, dating back to the Upper Cretaceous geological period, with alternating gray galestro: in these soils the presence of sand exceeds 60%, bringing great elegance to the wines. The second vineyard is older, planted in the 1990s on a rock formation dating back to the Paleocene period, where the soil features outcrops of quartz-feldspar siltstone and galestro (i.e. clayey schist), all supported by a high presence of limestone. In addition to his own production, John buys a small quantity of grapes suitable for Brunello every year from a farmer, respectful of the land and the grapes, coming from vines dating back to the 1970s, born on soils rich in Pliocene marine deposits. The fermentations are all spontaneous, with aging in large oak barrels, without any oenological embellishment but using modern microbiological analyses to monitor the maturation of the wine, in order to preserve its peculiarities. The current production is around 11,000 bottles per year.