Podere Castellinuzza di Coccia Paola

Lamole’s distinctiveness is as much geological as it is climatic. Its soils—weathered sandstone from the Macigno formation, enriched by underground springs—produce wines that emphasize grace and detail over brute force. Many vineyards still follow age-old traditions, clinging to dry-stone terraces where vines are often trained in the traditional Alberello Lamolese (bush-trained form)—a living testament to centuries of intuitive, hands-on farming dating back to the Romans.

Lamole might still fly under the radar were it not for a few persistent voices. One of them is Piero Lanza of Fattoria Poggerino in Radda, who introduced us to Serena Coccia of Podere Castellinuzza—a second-generation vigneronne. Like Lanza, Serena champions Chianti’s Burgundian-like nuance: a celebration of site, microclimate, and individuality.

The story of Podere Castellinuzza began in the early 1900s, when Serena’s great-great-grandfather worked these hills as a sharecropper under mezzadria contracts—a system in which tenant farmers kept 50% of the production and gave the rest to the landowner. Life was grueling and grapes were afterthought to olives and iris harvested for perfume production. By the 1960s, many families had left for the cities in search of easier lives. But when the estate—then known as Montagliari & Castellinuzza di Cappelli—was put up for sale in 1962, Serena’s grandfather decided to buy it.

“Everyone said they were fools to buy the land,” she recalls, “but they had a passion for the farm and a love of the work.”

The estate was later divided among Serena’s father, Paolo Coccia, and other family members. Of the nine hectares inherited, just 3.5 are planted to vines, flanking either side of a ridge crowned by the family home and cellar. The rest is forested with chestnut trees and dotted with olives.

After more than 70 harvests, Paolo remains a master of Lamole’s terroir—and a steady hand at Castellinuzza. But in the early 2010s, Serena returned to take the reins, supported by her sisters—now an all-female family team.

“I love making wine because it’s a beautiful job,” she says. “I was always bored in my old administrative role, but here, I’m never bored. From working in the vineyard and the cellar to meeting visitors and sharing the story of my family and our land—I love it all.”

About five years in, something clicked. Serena began vinifying each vineyard plot separately, allowing the unique character of each site to shine.

Today, Podere Castellinuzza produces three wines: Chianti Classico, Riserva, and—only in exceptional vintages—Gran Selezione. All are pure expressions of Lamole. Everything is done by hand, with fermentation in cement vats. Macerations typically last two to three weeks, with gentle pump-overs and punch-downs to extract depth without overworking the fruit.

Production is small—no more than 10,000 bottles per year—but remarkably refined. Around 8,000 bottles come from the “young” vines (now 50 years old) that make up the majority of the estate’s 3.5 planted hectares. The Riserva comes from a single vineyard, Vigna Maroni—a slightly older, northwest-facing site—with just 1,000 bottles produced annually. The Gran Selezione is drawn exclusively from a tiny parcel of ancient, Albarello-trained vines on northwest-facing terraces—a rarity in Chianti, and a direct link to Lamole’s heritage.

The wines are refined and deeply expressive. Firm, silken tannins frame a seductive mix of dark fruit, violet, and spice, all lifted by a stony, mineral backbone that unmistakably reflects Lamole’s high-altitude Macigno soils. These are not wines chasing trends—they are timeless, elegant, and rooted in place.

As longtime students and fans of Chianti’s many identities, we’re proud to introduce Podere Castellinuzza to the U.S. market—not as a symbol of where Chianti is going, but as a reminder of what it has always been at its best.