Bonacchi

The Bonacchi family have made wine in Tuscany since 1902, when they began at Casalguidi near Pistoia, and now farm around Castellina in Chianti in the heart of Chianti Classico as well as holding land in Montalcino and Montepulciano.

The family are traditionalists in a region that has seen a great deal of change. The wines are built on Sangiovese, aged in the large Slavonian oak casks that Tuscany used before French barrique arrived in the 1980s, and made in a style that puts acidity and structure ahead of immediate softness. Vin Santo is still made in the old manner, with grapes hung to dry through the winter and the wine aged for years in small sealed caratelli in the roof space.

Three generations on, the estate remains family-run and modest in scale, and the wines are consistently among the better value in Chianti, which is a category with a good deal of competition.