Why it matters
The producer
Tenuta San Jacopo is an eighteenth-century estate on the border between the Valdarno valley and the first Chianti hills, in the Arezzo province of Tuscany. Three brothers from Milan, Vanni, Carlo and Marco Cattaneo, bought it in 2002 and rebuilt it from the ground up. The vineyards needed serious work. The Cattaneos levelled soil, cross-ripped the subsoil, installed drainage, replaced vines and put up new supports before the estate could produce anything worth bottling.
That agricultural start shaped everything that followed. Within a year of the purchase, the estate had committed to organic farming: no synthetic chemicals, no genetically modified organisms, green manure feeding the soil, native yeasts drawn from the estate's own vines. Today, 40 hectares of certified organic vineyards produce the Sangiovese-led wines that carry the Poggio ai Grilli name.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Cavriglia sits in the Arezzo hills a few kilometres from Gaiole, at the eastern edge of Chianti territory. The estate is positioned between the Valdarno valley floor and the rising Chianti hills, at roughly 300 metres above sea level. That altitude matters for Sangiovese: cooler nights at harvest slow ripening, preserve acidity, and keep the grape's natural freshness intact. The estate sits outside the Chianti Classico zone, which runs between Florence and Siena to the west, but the elevation and the Apennine influence on the microclimate produce Sangiovese with the firm acid line that defines the best of that neighbouring zone.
The DOCG in use here is Chianti Superiore, a category that permits a broader geographic base than Classico but requires longer ageing before release. The Superiore designation on the Poggio ai Grilli label signals a wine held to a stricter standard than basic Chianti.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
All 40 hectares are farmed without synthetic chemical inputs. Green manure crops feed the soil between the vine rows. Native yeasts, selected from the estate's own vines, drive fermentation rather than commercial strains, which means the fermentation reflects the specific microbiological environment of the site.
At harvest, grapes are hand-picked into baskets, parcel by parcel, and moved quickly to the winery. They are crushed without pressing, a gentler approach that avoids extracting bitter compounds from stems and skins during the initial phase. The crushed fruit goes into small, temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks, with each parcel and variety kept separate. That separation continues after primary fermentation: the lots move into small oak barrels for malolactic fermentation, still divided by origin. Individual parcel and grape characters remain distinct until the winemaker decides how to blend.
Wines to know
The range in view
The main range is anchored by two Chianti Superiore DOCG wines under the Poggio ai Grilli label, both made from 90% Sangiovese and 10% Merlot. The Merlot addition softens the angular quality that high-altitude Sangiovese can carry and adds a layer of dark fruit alongside the Sangiovese's native cherry and violet.
The Poggio ai Grilli Chianti Superiore is the entry wine: stainless-steel vinification from first fermentation through to bottling, with no oak ageing. The approach keeps acidity bright, tannins soft, and the fruit character of the Sangiovese at the foreground. Violet and cherry aromas, a touch of spice, and a clean finish with tannins that do not grip.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with the Poggio ai Grilli Chianti Superiore. It is 90% Sangiovese from organic parcels at 300 metres, fermented in temperature-controlled steel with lots kept separate through to bottling, and it shows exactly what the estate's farming philosophy produces in the glass without any oak standing between you and the fruit. Violet, cherry, bright acidity, soft tannins, clean finish. It is ready to drink young, pairs without difficulty across a range of Tuscan food, and gives a direct answer to the most important question about this estate: what does organic Sangiovese from the Arezzo hills actually taste like.