Riccardo isn't from an old Montalcino family with a name everybody already knows. Back in 2002, he and his wife Jennifer found a quiet, out of the way stretch of land at the top of the appellation and just decided to build something there. Nobody handed them a legacy estate. They bought it, moved in, and started figuring it out themselves.
His first vintages weren't even the wines he makes now. He's talked about how he leaned on more technical winemaking in the beginning: heavy extraction, Bordeaux barriques, the kind of approach a lot of young winemakers get taught. But then he started traveling, mostly to Piedmont and Burgundy, and asking a ton of questions, by his own account annoying pretty much everyone he met. What he came away with changed everything. He realized the wines he actually loved were the ones made with real attention in the vineyard and as little fuss as possible in the cellar.
So around 2005, on just his third vintage, he brought in a Siena based agronomist who understood Montalcino's quirks, and things started clicking. From there it was mostly a matter of doubling down: farming organically, fermenting only with native yeasts, aging everything in big old neutral Slavonian oak instead of new barrique, bottling unfiltered.
What really sets Le Ragnaie apart, though, is where the vines sit. Riccardo and Jennifer's plots are some of the highest in all of Montalcino, up near a pass so windy that lanterns used to blow out on travelers crossing it. That altitude keeps the grapes fresher and gives the wines a kind of lift and tension that's hard to find lower down in the valley, especially as the region keeps getting warmer.
In the cellar, Riccardo treats every parcel the same way on purpose. No fancy tricks for one plot and not another. Same protocol across the board, so what ends up in the glass is really just the land talking, not the winemaker.
Honestly, once you taste one of his Brunellos you'll get it immediately. There's a purity and elegance to them that a lot of bigger, richer Montalcino wines don't have. People who've followed him for years will tell you he basically proved that high altitude Brunello could be great, and now half the region is chasing the same hillsides.
We carry his wines because he's exactly the kind of producer we want to be pouring: someone who built it all himself, farms with real intention, and lets the place speak for itself. Come try a bottle and see for yourself.
2024 Troncone- $29.99
2022 Toscana Bianco- $39.99
2022 Rosso di Montalcino- $39.99
2020 Brunello di Montalcino-$84.99