Il Palazzino farm, owned by Alessandro and Andrea
Sderci, is located in Monti in Chianti, 20 km northeast
of Siena, in the southern part of Chianti Classico Area.
The estate has a total of about twenty hectares (fifty acres),
great part of which dedicated to viculture and for a small part
to olive grove. Given the small dimensions of the estate
working procedures are strictly manual and the soil is cultivated
using organic methods. The use of chemical substances which may
be harmful to the soil, the farm workers and the environment in
the last years has been first reduced and then eliminated. Vineyards
are fertilized with compost and manure, but mostly the soil is managed
with careful observation of the native weeds.
Insect pests are reduced at a minimum through the increase of
biodiversity in the vineyard: striving to protect the diversity of insect life
means first and foremost eliminating the use of insecticides;
Fungi and mildew diseases are kept under control by careful
canopy management, and by improving the health of the soil.
As regards winemaking, fermentation uses only naturally present
yeasts and the good quality of the grapes at harvest time
allows now reduced amounts of sulfites.
The Sderci family became owner of Il Palazzino in the
middle of the nineteenth century. Then in the early
1970s, Alessandro and Andrea took over management of
the farm: new specialized vineyards were planted and
a new, completely underground cellar was
built for the fermentation and aging of the wines.
