Province of Siena
Established: 1923
Owners: Maria Flora Fuligni & Roberto Guerrini Fuligni
Winemakers: Roberto Guerrini Fuligni & Paolo Vagaggini
Production: 46,000 bottles
Hectares under vine: 11
Viticulture: Conventional
This beautiful property, surrounding a 16th century Medici villa, was founded in 1923 by a descendant of the Venetian Fulignis. Although the wines labels still bear that city’s symbol, the lion of St. Marco, the family has long been thoroughly Tuscan. The present generations are Maria Flora Fuligni and nephew Roberto Guerrini Fuligni, a.k.a Professor of Criminal Law at Siena University, who styles the wines with oenologist Paolo Vagaggini.
The property is on an almost continual strip on the eastern side of Montalcino, divided into four vineyards: San Giovanni, Il Piano, Ginestreto and La Bandita. The vineyards are predominantly east facing at 380-450 metres on rocky terrain. The soil is low in organic components and conducive to minuscule yields, further restrained by the age of the vines (mostly between 15-35 years with peaks of 55 years). Over the last decade, Roberto’s profound revision of the winery’s quality criteria – drastically reduced crops and even stricter selection of grapes that are vinified separately according to cru – have maximized the superb potential of his terroir and propelled Fuligni to be amongst the finest in the region. The wine is aged for three years in a combination of Slavonian oak barrels and tonneaux, followed by a year in the bottle. Stylistically, the wines capture the middle ground between modern and traditional, bursting at the seams with plum and cherry fruit sustained by a firm, full structure and polished tannins.
