Cellar

The purpose of our philosophy and therefore our commitments, is to improve our business not in the quantity but in the high quality of our products. This is the only way to preserve the peculiarities of our territory, that in Tuscany, more than in other places, are strongly connected with the ancient traditions of this country.
The biological farming business “Croce di Febo” it’s a family management, where the owners personally take care of the vineyard and the wine production.
The farmhouse is up to one of the most suggestive hill of Montepulciano, where the micro climate and the land composition encourage the wine and olive farming.
The name of the farmhouse “Croce di Febo” comes from a cross finding (in the land), that a mysterious character Baldassarre Audibert erected during his pilgrimage in the holy places of Tuscany.
The farming business was born in the middle 90’, but only since 2006 we have started the wine and oil bottling, after a long study and search process on the little craftsmanship, that is the starting point for our working philosophy.
The farming land is 38 hectares: 2,5 hectares of olive trees enrolled in Dop Terre di Siena and 8,5 hectares of vineyard D.o.c. and D.o.c.g.
The harvest is done strictly by hand using small crates after having carefully determined the time that varies for each vine. After an accurate examination in the vineyard the grapes are brought in the Fontelellera cellar which was built using the most advanced technology. Then, before and after the removal of grape stalks, the grapes are further controlled on a double selection table.
After a gentle crushing the grapes are dropped in fermentation barrels without the support of any mechanical pump that could damage their fragile property.
The fermentation takes place at a supervised temperature partly in wooden conical barrels while the following happens in aging and tonneaux barrels of French oak.
Our wines have a long refining process “sur lies” and are placed in bottles directly in the cellar without any filtration.
We grow our olives in a traditional and biological way in our farms situated in the countryside of Montepulciano south of Siena, between 450 and 550 mt. above sea level where the soil is more stoney and subject to changes in temperature.

The olives under these conditions, grow more slowly, and naturally this greatly limits the production for this reason all the energy is concentrated on a few olives delivering a small quantity but a very high quality production.
The olives are carefully harvested by hand during the ripening phase, the beginning of the maturation with the transformation of the external colouration towards brown and they are at their maximum potential because they are more rich in “antiossidanti” and “polifenoli” and are lower in acidity.
The oil is extracted at a cold temperature environment (cold press) within 24 h. of the picking, to respect and if possible to improve the characteristics of these olives making it difficult to exceed the 13%. There is an absence of filtration, but there is a process of natural sedimentation, which guarantees a unique extra virgin olive oil with matchless flavour; while the high concentration of antiossidanti which guarantees an exceptional longevity. For this reason we love the fine oil that we produce as this a great oil, rich in aroma and taste that expresses the maximum of the Montepulciano territory.
The extra virgin olive oil does not have a univocal taste, the thousand variations of the senses of smell depend on the blend of the various cultivar, of the territory and of the exposure; for this reason we are convinced that the can be one olive oil for every occasion and flavouring and so we have diversified our production.