Cupano

Montalcino, Toscana

The Cupano winery is perched on a stony hill above the Ombrone river with well draining soils high in mineral content. Year after year the winery is recognized with “un vrai grand terroir”. Ornella Tondini and Lionel Cousin moved to Montalcino from Paris with their daughter Orsa in the 90s and in 1997 Ornella and Lionel chose to plant their first 3.4 hectares (8.4 acres) of vineyards around the hill, all with a southerly exposure. Today the winery consists of 35 hectares (86 acres), all organically farmed: 6.4ha (16 acres) of vineyard, 2ha (5 acres) of olive oil trees, 18ha (44 acres) of forests, and 8ha (20 acres) of arable land.

The family hopes to succeed in imbuing their wines with a memory of the landscape, the season, and passion they bring. Lionel was born in Cognac and studied winemaking in Burgundy, where he honed his winemaking philosophy of limiting your production so you can take meticulous care of the vines, use indigenous yeasts, age on the fine lees in Burgundian barriques, and no filtration or clarification.

Being only 30 km (18.6 miles) far from the Mediterranean Sea, the vines take advantage of the temperate climate and sea breezes that dominate the valley and the Ombrone river flowing belowl. The soils, consisting of sandy clay with large substructure of cobble stones, are quite unique in Montalcino. At one time the vineyards were part of the Ombrone riverbed and the soils are remnants of the sediments left behind.

2000 was Cupano’s first vintage and from the beginning their intention was to produce wines for aging; seeking for evolution, elegance and complexity in time.