Riecine was originally owned by a nearby monastery until the 20th century, in fact the church archives from 1112 A.D. provide the earliest known record of the wine farm called Riecine. Is very close to excavations of an Etruscan township. It is possible that wine has been produced in the hills around Riecine even before the XII century.
Riecine is located in the heart of Tuscany, 60 km South-East of Florence, 35 km North-East of Siena, in the community of Gaiole in Chianti. Riecine vineyards are among the finest of Chianti Classico area. For many decades Riecine winery has maintained the reputation of a true Sangiovese specialist.
The founder of contemporary Riecine John Dunkley, an Englishman who became one of the most admired producers of the new style Chianti Classico, based on Sangiovese. With his Italian wife Palmina Abbagnano, John acquired the original 1.5 hectares of land in 1971 from the nearby monastery of Badia a Coltibuono. They restored the old stone villa on the land and began reviving and replanting vines. The first vintage of Chianti Classico, 1973, was released in 1975.
A close friend of John and Palmina, Carlo Ferrini, played an important role in the birth and growth of Riecine wines, giving his enological advices to Riecine until 1997.
John Dunkley was respected as one of Chianti’s most astute interpreter. He always maintained that Cabernet varieties permitted under DOCG rules for Chianti Classico had no place in the vineyards of Riecine. As he once put it: “When Baron Philippe de Rothschild plants Sangiovese, I’ll switch to Cabernet Sauvignon.”
In 1991, John and Palmina, hired as an intern a young winemaker, Sean O’Callaghan, who began to join the team as an internal Riecine winemaker, to become later one of the recent interpeter of Riecine’s wines style.
Although John and Palmina are no longer around, their inspiration still guides our philosophy and work at Riecine.
Since 2011 Riecine has been family-owned and led by Lana Frank. The family is strongly committed to maintain the philosophy of Riecine and to provide everything necessary for Riecine team to produce the great wines from the terroir, and is totally focused on quality aspects of all operations in the vineyards and cantina.
We are proud of Riecine’s traditions, and are dedicated to maintaining them. Over the past several years, Riecine wines have advanced in quality to the highest levels and are enjoyed today by wine lovers in all corners of the world.