The History of Winery
The Buonamico Estate is set southwest of Montecarlo, in the Cercatoja area, and it covers a surface of 100 hectares, 48 of which are dedicated to specialized vineyards.
The winery was founded by renowned restaurateurs from Turin in the early 1960s, with the purpose of furnishing their restaurant with Montecarlo wines.Today the Estate, owned by the Fontana Family, has expanded in terms of both vineyards and wine cellar.While preserving the essential characteristics of a traditional winemaking style, “Buonamico” has now become one of the Montecarlo’s leading wine producers.Montecarlo wines became the objects of desire on the most famous tables, and they were chosen to celebrate Prince Umberto di Savoia and Maria Josè’s wedding at Quirinale in 1930.During these years Marchi – Magnani’s wines, together with other producers’ such as Pucci, Carrara, Pardocchi and De Dominicis, got several rewards in Italy and abroad. The wine was by that time known as “Montecarlo’s Chablis”.
The Vineyard & Vinemaking
The evolution of the company includes the planting on the vacant land; the wine growing area reaches a total of 48 hectares. Some of the older and less productive vineyards have been replaced with new vines of higher density per hectare. The new vines are exclusively derived from noble stocks, including white grapes such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Vermentino and Viogner, and red grape varieties such as Sangiovese, Syrah and Canaiolo. An experimental vineyard of Canaiolo Rosa and Buonamico varieties was created in order to monitor the development of the vines over time and to maintain the heritage, which has nearly completely disappeared on a national level, of these two types of grape varieties, with the ultimate goal of using them for the Estate’s rosé wine. From 2008 we have the external collaboration of the famous winemaker Alberto Antonini, who has a multi-year development program to improve the quality of the existing wines, while keeping an eye on market trends. The renovation of the Estate was coordinated by architect Paolo Riani. In addition to several internal and external tasting rooms, including our panoramic terraces, the charming and historical cellar known as “l’Inferno” has also been renovated. Here visitors can enjoy our winery’s winemaking history, from the first bottle, 1964, to the latest vintage. The cellar has been expanded and integrated with the best equipment for winemaking, bottling and wine storage, like the barrels cellar where the wines are left to lay in an elegant environment that guests can visit, with controlled temperature and humidity.An entire area has been dedicated to the aging of reserve wines, with a special temperature-controlled and accurately dehumidified environment. The company has quickly obtained wines of the best quality, in maximum respect of the land and with an open mind on new developments in wine-making techniques.
In 2015, with the acquisition of Michi’s Farm (1956) our vineyards cover a surface of 45 hectares, and the total property is around 100 hectares, divided into vineyards, olive trees and wood.
Buonamico’s historical vineyards (1964) are mainly located in the Cercatoja and Corte Collodi areas, and they cover a surface of 30 hectares.
In the Cercatoja area we still have historical vines such as Syrah, which has been introduced in 1964, and other vineyards, recently planted in order to reach a higher number of varieties (i.e Chardonnay) or protect old traditional vines (Buonamico, Canaiolo Rosa and Malvasia Bianca).In Corte Collodi area the vineyards were meant to be gradually renovated, increasing the density until we reach 6200 plants per hectare. Here we planted more Vermentino vines and we introduced Viognier variety.The structure of these new vineyards is organized to increase the mechanizing procedures and keep a very high quality at the same time. In fact all the techniques are used to guarantee a high efficience of the company’s labour in every single phases of the production, from the pruning to the harvest.The growing techniques are chosen according to the varieties and the oenological objectives; we normally prefer Spurred Cordon for red varieties such as Sangiovese, Cabernet, Merlot and Guyot for white varieties.In the Michi area we have 15 hectares, 10 of which are productive; the other 5 hectares will follow a program of replanting vines in new vineyards with a high density, according to Corte Collodi’s model.There are both white grapes such as Vermentino, Viognier and aromatic Malvasia. In terms of red grapes we have Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
The cellar has a top quality technological equipment, in order to obtain the maximum control in every phase of the production, with the highest respect of the raw material, from vinification to the bottling process. So, delicate stripping of the stem in order to avoid damaging it and mashing, gentle pressing with a pneumatic , which is essential for high quality white wines, maximum care in handling the product (grapes-must-wine) with the use of peristaltic pumps and automatic temperature control during fermentation for each individual tank in order to preserve the natural scents and aromas of the grapes. The wine making tanks are made of stainless steel, while a number of those used for aging and storage are made of vitrified concrete. For wines that require wood ageing, we use french oak barriques and tonneaux, selecting the woods and the most suitable kind of toasting processes depending on each type of wine. We also have a highly efficent bottling and packaging line that allows us to operate at the highest quality levels, as well as to reduce the amount of sulphur dioxide used for preservation. The bottled wine is stored in a compactable warehouse with controlled temperature and humidity in order to maintain the organoleptic characteristics of our products at their best.
