EN 
DE 
FR 
IT 
A turquoise glass column pierces through the Tuscan wine cellar – architecture meets 60-million-year-old marlstone. Podere Salicutti in Montalcino has been combining organic viticulture with unconventional aesthetics since 1990. Sabine and Felix Eichbauer run the region’s first organically certified estate with an architect’s precision and the hospitality expertise of their legendary Tantris family. On 4.5 hectares, they produce Brunelli regarded as the “Holy Grail of Sangiovese purity”. The three single vineyards Teatro, Piaggione and Sorgente yield exclusively Sangiovese, which undergoes lengthy ageing in wood to become Brunello di Montalcino.
More about Salicutti
From Munich to Montalcino: Tantris meets Tuscany
2016 wagten Sabine und Felix Eichbauer aus München den Sprung ins toskanische Weingeschäft. Ihre Familie hatte bereits Gastronomieerfahrung: 1971 gründete Felix’ Vater Fritz das legendäre Restaurant Tantris with Eckart Witzigmann - a revolution in German Michelin-starred cuisine. Today, this precision and attention to detail also characterise the vineyards of Montalcino. Sabine, an architect by profession, renovated the entire estate in 2018 and left her modern signature: a turquoise glass column by Roman architect Massimiliano Fuksas punctuates the traditional wine cellar.
Biodynamics pioneer with a 60-million-year-old foundation
As early as 1996, Salicutti was Montalcino's first winery the organic certification. Since 2022, the Eichbauers have been working completely biodynamically according to Demeter guidelines and are proud members of the exclusive respect-BIODYN Association with only 36 European winegrowers. Jan Erbach from the neighbouring winery Pian dell'Orino personally accompanies this conversion. The 4.5 hectares of vines rest on 60 to 80 million year old marlstone - calcareous Marne soils that the Sangiovese loves. Donkeys graze between the olive trees, bees buzz through the orchard, while chickens peck between the rows of vines.
Three locations, three personalities
The individual vineyards tell different stories: Teatro at 520 metres above sea level is Sabine's favourite - the coolest, late-ripening south-facing vineyard provides the grapes for the elegant Brunello di Montalcino Teatro Riserva 2019. Piaggione hingegen erobert Felix’ Herz: Die fossil-reichen, kalkhaltigen Böden in Ost-Südost-Exposition schaffen die Basis für den kraftvollen Brunello di Montalcino Piaggione 2020. Sorgente The trio is completed with heavy soils at 450 metres - this is where the Brunello di Montalcino Sorgente 2020 with its characteristic lateness.
Intensive gardening and pure Sangiovese philosophy
“Das Land war vor uns da; es nährt nun unsere Reben, und es wird hier sein, wenn wir fort sind” – diese Demut prägt das intensive gardening of the family. They know every vine personally and every grape is selected by hand. Cellar master Gianni Fabbri vinifies exclusively Sangiovese to produce around 15,000 to 20,000 bottles per year. The Mediterranean climate, 35 kilometres from the Tyrrhenian Sea, and the meticulous manual work create those Sangiovese purity, die Monika Larner von Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate zum “Holy Grail” erklärte. Moderne Architektur, Münchner Präzision und toskanische Tradition verschmelzen zu Brunelli von kompromissloser Klarheit.