Our Estate

THE ESTATE
A typical Tuscan house: thick stone walls, wooden beams and terracotta, an architecture rich with history and character. It is a picturesque home that has seen centuries pass by and is now respectfully restored to preserve its spirit and the history that lies within its walls, a harmonious blend of tradition and modernity awaits you.

Each section of Ferrale tells a different story about its history and evolution over time:

The stone courtyard, at the center of the main building is a beautiful place to gather together for aperitivo while enjoying the landscape. The spectacular tower that dominates the courtyard was used as a watchtower more than a 1,000 years ago.

The main building is horseshoe shape, with the East Wing as the guest house, spread over two floors offering five exquisite ensuite bedrooms, gardens and private access. While the west wing, is our private house, where we live with our boys and our dogs.

At the end of the East Wing there is another semi courtyard, “La Loggia” which offers within its high arches and roofs, a beautiful place to meet, sip wine and relax.

Beneath the main house lies the ancient cellar, with its flagstone floors, high clay roofs and concrete vats, is a wonderful place to receive carefully picked hand harvests, to experiment and create our unique wines.

Beyond the horseshoe, lie two ancient barns, tall with stone walls and terracotta roofs, as yet untouched, these will be an ambitious restoration project (hopefully) in the near future.

LOCATION
Strategically located 555m above sea level, between the magnificent cities of Siena and Florence, in the Chianti Classico region, Podere Ferrale is a haven where you can escape from the world and relax surrounded by nature. Endless places of interest, rich with history and culture, are easily accessible and just waiting for you to explore them.

VINEYARDS
Our Estate consists of 2.5 hectares of newly planted vineyards (2018) complete with 2 hectares of Sangiovese, Chianti Classico certified, and 0.5 hectares of Canaiolo, both typical Tuscan grapes.

A total of 12,500 vines are distributed in two plots of land within the estate: Vigna di Casa has 1 hectare of Sangiovese and 0.5 hectares of Canaiolo, faces North West and grows in a soil rich in clay and limestone; while Vigna Nuova has 1 hectare of Sangiovese, faces South West and grows in a soil abundant with red marl.

Our organic vineyards benefit from permanent grassing and leguminous cover crops carefully selected to create a healthy and rich soil. We chose the Guyot method to grow our vines, which allows an excellent exposure of the leaves and highest levels of quality.

The vineyards are the pride of our estate, we managed them personally, and tend them like a garden nurturing this long-term investment that reflects our love and passion for this wonderful place.

OLIVE GROVES
There are only 500 trees that produce Ferrale’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil, another great passion. Our olives trees are more than 40 years old and have always been managed as a traditional low intensity crop.

Our olive trees are located mainly in two fields within the estate: La Terrazza, which has only 90 trees, is so called because it serves as a garden to the guest house; and L’Oliveta, a field with a significant slope located between the two vineyards. All varieties of olive trees planted are typically Tuscan: Frantoio, Moraiolo, Pendolino and Leccino.

The management of olive trees and organic farming mainly involves manual work, from pruning to harvesting, which is also completed, with love, by the owners. The spontaneous grassing of the fields ensures that the soil, rich in clay and stones very typical in Chianti, has a natural balance that enriches both the trees and the fruits.

HISTORY
The history of Ferrale dates back more than 1,000 years. Originally a watchtower, it was a high and safe place to remain vigilant of the surroundings: the land of Chianti was fraught with dangers. With the passing of time, it became an estate dedicated to agriculture.

In 1900 it was purchased by Antonio Soderi (the current owner’s Great Grandfather) to produce wine and oil, a business that along with textiles and many others, remained in the hands of the Soderi family for three generations.

In 1976 the estate was sold to a family who moved from Milan to change their lives, and, just like them, 40 years later in 2016, Franco and Samanta (with their sons Matteo and Leonardo) bought back Ferrale to follow their dream of living in the Tuscan countryside, little knowing that the property had been in the Soderi Family decades ago, a stroke of serendipity that brought the estate back to the family.

The first project, in 2017, was to restore the fields and the olives trees, years of neglect had left them overgrown and disordered. We have lovingly restored order to the fields.

A year later, in 2018, the East Wing restoration adventure began and we replanted the vineyards. In the same year, we bottled our first batch of extra virgin olive oil.

By 2021, after three years of hard work were finally ready to harvest our first crop of grapes. The journey towards our wines had begun…