A Treasure Chest in Travertine
For generations, my family has been dedicated to the excavation and craftsmanship of travertine. My father, Glauco Dei, gave a significant new direction to the family business by creating architectural works all over the world. At the age of eighty, he conceived the idea of uniting the world of stone with that of wine, deciding to design and build a travertine home for his wine.
The structure blends harmoniously into the gentle rolling hills surrounding Montepulciano. The natural shades of travertine merge with the colors of the soil, creating a striking architectural spectacle.
To access the winery, one descends a distinctive circular ramp, also in travertine, spiraling down into the heart of the earth. We chose this form for the entrance to recall the precious fossil shells which, together with calcareous sandstone, make the soil of our Bossona vineyard so unique.
The aging cellar resembles a true temple of wine: the coffered travertine ceiling, designed by my father, is supported by majestic columns. A modern, clean structure, yet with strong echoes of classical architecture. The large glass windows of the bottling and packaging area open onto a courtyard shaped like an amphitheater: here, the union between wine and art finds its fullest expression.
My wish has always been for our guests to live a deeply emotional experience – a complete immersion in this land.
The Treasure: Vino Nobile di Montepulciano
Cantine Dei is my treasure chest in travertine: its most precious jewel is Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, which in July 1980 became the first wine in Italy to receive the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG). Today, it is recognized among the most prestigious wines in Italy and around the world.
According to the philosophy of my grandfather, my father, and now mine, wine is a heritage that, like the land itself, must be safeguarded. To know the history and understand the culture behind the production of a bottle of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano—with its unique characteristics—is a way to celebrate and appreciate not only every sip of the wine, but the entire region of Montepulciano.
My mission, with Cantine Dei, is to protect and promote Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and its territory, with the utmost respect for the environment. This is why I will be delighted to welcome you to our winery, to share with you the story of this land, and to celebrate together its most precious gifts.
The Vineyards of Cantine Dei
The generous land of Montepulciano hosts the five production units of Cantine Dei: Martiena, Bossona, La Ciarliana, La Piaggia, and Cervognano. All five areas benefit from the ideal exposure and pedoclimatic conditions that make the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano area unique. However, each vineyard has its own distinctive characteristics:
Martiena (350 m a.s.l.): characterized by medium-textured sandy-clay soils.
La Piaggia (350 m a.s.l.): dedicated to the estate’s crown jewel, Vino Nobile Madonna della Querce, with Pliocene-origin soils dating back 1.8–6.8 million years, clay-loam in texture with a small presence of stone.
Bossona (400 m a.s.l.): the source of our Riserva Bossona cru, with subsoils rich in stone and fossils of Pliocene origin, clay-loam in texture with the right presence of fine sand (tuff).
La Ciarliana (300 m a.s.l.) and Cervognano (250 m a.s.l.): both characterized by clay and limestone-rich soils.
Zoning
This is the name we give to our method of dividing the vineyards. Within the same production area, pedoclimatic conditions can vary greatly—even just a few meters apart—and strongly influence the character of the wine. Zoning is therefore the subdivision of land into smaller plots that share homogeneous characteristics, such as soil composition and the productive capacity of the vine.
In this way, we have been able to define a distinct sub-zone for each of our vineyards, which we cultivate according to its specific needs. The great advantage lies, on the one hand, in the strong connection between terroir and wine—allowing it to be identified as coming from a specific vineyard—and on the other, in the creation of a profound harmony between our work and the land itself.
“Pour forth wine in a river of foam in honor of Bacchus, the muses, and beauty.” (A. S. Pushkin).
To this invocation, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano gives its answer here, at Cantine Dei.
Glauco Dei, a great enthusiast of architecture, sought to transform the winery into a true architectural masterpiece, capable of engaging in dialogue with the surrounding nature. Every line, every proportion was conceived to merge with the harmony of the landscape, so that the winery would not be merely a workplace, but a work of art living in perfect symbiosis with the hills of Montepulciano.
Below is a small photo gallery showcasing the renovation works of the winery:
