Wine

Folonari relaunches and invests 9 million in facilities and hospitality

The most important piece of investment concerns the new Cabreo wine cellar

5 June 2025

3' min read

Wine consumption is slowly but steadily declining. For some time now, an international anti-alcohol offensive has been targeting wine more than spirits. Not to mention the growing market uncertainties and the threats of US tariffs, the first foreign outlet for Italian wine. The right scenario for investing.

This is what they must have thought at the Ambrogio e Giovanni Folonari Tenute company in Greve in Chianti, which produces 1.2 million bottles from its 250 hectares of vineyards in Chianti Classico, Bolgheri, Montepulciano, Montalcino and Maremma for a turnover of around 11 million euro and which has invested over 9 million euro, of the family's own resources, in its production facilities and accommodation facilities in the three-year period 2024-26.

An investment therefore dictated by the desire to raise the bar even higher in terms of product quality and to ride the wave of overtourism that is bringing to the Tuscan countryside, and beyond, an ever-increasing number of wine lovers who are passionate and curious about the places where wine is born and the families behind a label.

The most important piece of investment concerns the new Cabreo cellar. Cabreo is Ambrogio and Giovanni Folonari's supertuscan, a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, one of the first supertuscans produced and which celebrated its 40th anniversary a few days ago.

But what drives one to invest in such an uncertain phase? 'It is certainly a challenge,' says the president and CEO of Ambrogio e Giovanni Folonari Tenute, Giovanni Folonari, 'but it also betrays practical motivations. At times like these, when there are only a few to embark on challenging projects, it is also possible to obtain more advantageous prices. If nobody buys fermentation tanks, their value will decrease. In reality, the project is broader.

There are two reasons for this: one technical, dictated by a sort of fundamentalism of quality, and the other touristic. 'The new wine cellar that we plan to inaugurate in May 2026,' adds Folonari, 'will allow us to significantly improve the management of the raw material. First of all, thanks to the optical sorter of the grapes (which is also important in good vintages) and then thanks to a more effective control of the temperatures, meaning both the temperature of the wine but above all the humidity of the wood in the barrels, a decisive aspect in the ageing phase. The point is that if in a cellar there are variations of 7-8 degrees between summer and winter, the percentage of the watery component of the wine subject to evaporation increases. And this leads to more alcoholic and concentrated wines. The opposite of what the market demands today. The new tanks will have a capacity of 8 thousand hectolitres and will be of different sizes as well as being 'scalable' and walkable by tourists visiting the winery. We have created a real floor to allow people to walk on top of the tanks, which have been made using innovative technology that makes them 'beautiful'. Everything is then completed with a terracotta floor and LED lighting that will make the visit more evocative".

A wine cellar therefore for maniacal care of the raw material, an indispensable requirement for making quality wines. Everything will then be completed by a wine shop with a dedicated tasting room. "The other pillar is then receptivity," adds Folonari, "a lever that will also be increasingly important for selling wine. Our two relais, Borgo del Cabreo and Pietra del Cabreo, opened between 2017 and 2021 in the opening period between March and November, have an occupancy rate of over 90%. Tuscany, its quality wines with a precise territorial identity, the beauty of the Tuscan countryside and rural tourism are assets that, if well preserved through investment, fear neither threat nor crisis."

Giorgio dell’OreficeVicecaposervizio
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Luogo: Roma
Lingue parlate: italiano, inglese
Argomenti: agricoltura, agroalimentare, made in Italy, vitinicoltura, olio
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