ON A STEEP HILL BETWEEN THE APUAN ALPS AND ABETONE, VINES GROW WILD AMIDST FOREST, WILDFLOWERS, AND HERBS, CREATING A LUSH, NATURAL LANDSCAPE. THE BARSANTI FAMILY FIRST DISCOVERED THIS ENCHANTING HILL IN THE 1960S. CIPRIANO’S FATHER, MAURO, INITIALLY PLANTED TERRACED VINES OF MONTEPULCIANO ALONGSIDE VEGETABLE GARDENS, PRODUCING JUST ENOUGH WINE FOR FAMILY CONSUMPTION. AFTER COMPLETING HIS OENOLOGY STUDIES, CIPRIANO RETURNED TO MACEA IN 1999 WITH A VISION TO TRANSFORM THE ESTATE. CIPRIANO AND HIS BROTHER ANTONIO DECIDED TO REPLACE THE OLD MONTEPULCIANO VINES THAT BY THEN WERE STRUGGLING WITH INTERNATIONAL VARIETIES BETTER SUITED TO THE ENVIRONMENT, INCLUDING SAUVIGNON BLANC, PINOT GRIGIO, AND PINOT NOIR. WITH HIS EXPERTISE IN BLENDING AND AGING, ANTONIO COMPLEMENTS CIPRIANO’S VISION PERFECTLY. SINCE 2003 THEY FARM THEIR 2.5 HECTARES OF VINES BIODINAMICALLY, WHILE IN THE CELLAR THEIR WINEMAKING IS METICULOUS AND PRODUCES, IN A GREAT YEAR, AROUND 5,000 BOTTLES THAT REFLECT THE BARSANTI BROTHERS CAREFUL ATTENTION TO THEIR TERROIR AND THEIR DEDICATION TO THEIR CRAFT.