Pioneers of fine wines in Cortona
The origins of Tenimenti d'Alessandro
The history of Tenimenti d’Alessandro is linked to Cortona and its rebirth as a place of excellent wine production.
Located in Manzano, down by Cortona (Arezzo) in south-east Tuscany, the property —today about 30 hectares of vineyards, certified organic since 2016 — was purchased in 1967 by the d’Alessandro family.
From experimentation to symbol wines
The vocation for Syrah and Viognier
Starting from the 80s, the area has been subject to intense experimentation in order to determine the very best varieties for its soils and climate conditions.
Above all, Syrah performed the best and seemed to be the most suitable grape variety. The great vine of the Rhone has found the way to express itself with its own strong identity, well adapting to a warm, bright and dry environments, as well as sedimentary deposits of pliocene origin: clays, sands, silts.
The very first result came in 1992 with the first vintage of the “Bosco”, a pure Syrah that soon became the winery’s most iconic label and one of the most appreciated Syrah in Italy and in the world. Viognier was the other discovery that, since 1991 with the cru “Fontarca”, holds an important share of the vineyards.
Experimenting tradition
Know your history to trace new paths
A new path began in 2013: the Calabresi family, already partner in d’Alessandro since 2007, took over the company.
Filippo Calabresi is totally involved in the winemaking, bringing to Cortona the Syrah skills he has built with many vignerons in France, California and Oregon, after studying at the International Wine Center in New York
Filippo realizes his idea of wine starting from the vineyards, working organic, excluding synthetic products and looking for plant’s health and balance. Craftmanship is cellar’s main ingredient, where the aim is to enhance the local character of the vines, without ever forgetting the drinkability.
From the origin to excellence
Our story
The wise balance between cultivars
Tuscan extra virgin olive oil
Tenimenti d’Alessandro is not only an excellence in the wine sector, but also in olive growing: the Tuscan olive trees from which we produce an extra virgin olive oil, strictly the result of organic agriculture, are rooted in the area surrounding the winery. All stages of cultivation, harvesting and processing are controlled and meet specific quality criteria. Today Tenimenti d’Alessandro produces four types of oil, obtained from olives of the Frantoio, Pendolino and Leccino cultivars, harvested by hand and processed in the company oil mill. The centuries-old aromas of Tuscany are found in the gold liquid of our extra virgin olive oil, both in the multicultivar typology and in the three monocultivar varieties.