[Akyung Wine Cellar] A Wine That Defies Summary: Stella di Campalto Deconstructs the Vintage

<38> Italy's "Stella di Campalto"
Montalcino's First Biodynamic Certification,
Small-Scale Production of Fewer Than 20,000 Bottles Annually
One Vintage, Multiple Brunellos: The "Masse" Structure
Capturing Terroir Differences in Every Bot

Editor's NoteNo two wines are the same under the sky. Even when grapes are grown on the same land and vinified and aged in the same way each year, the results are always different. Wine is a 'drink of serendipity,' born from the harmony of humans and nature. Every wine, which disappears silently after leaving only a single vivid memory, holds an intriguing story. 'Akyung Wine Cellar' uncorks and shares these unique tales of wines crafted and matured under different circumstances.

Scenery of the 'San Giuseppe' vineyard of Stella di Campalto.
[Photo by Stella di Campalto]

Montalcino, located 40 kilometers south of Siena in the Italian region of Toscana, was, until the 1970s, one of the poorest areas in southern Toscana and was not widely recognized even within Italy. However, in 1980, Brunello di Montalcino (BDM) was granted the 'DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata Garantita)' status, and today, the region has emerged as a leading red wine-producing area, not only in Toscana but across Italy.

The Hill Off the Beaten Path, San Giuseppe

Traveling about 10 kilometers further south from Montalcino, you will find 'Podere San Giuseppe,' a vineyard perched on a hill removed from both tourist routes and the maps of famous producers. Although Podere San Giuseppe had long been a land where grapes grew, it was abandoned for decades after World War II. It was Stella Viola di Campalto who revived this dormant land in 1992.

Scenery of the 'San Giuseppe' vineyard by Stella di Campalto.
[Photo by Stella di Campalto]

Stella Viola did not believe she discovered the San Giuseppe vineyard; rather, she felt chosen by this special plot and dreamed of creating wines that captured the essence of its nature and the passage of time.

To produce high-quality wines that reflect the terroir of Podere San Giuseppe, she adopted organic farming methods in 1995 and, in 2005, became the first in the Montalcino region to receive biodynamic certification. Biodynamic farming excludes chemical fertilizers and pesticides, treating the soil, plants, microorganisms, and celestial rhythms as one ecosystem. Stella di Campalto produces fewer than 20,000 bottles annually from its small-scale vineyards of just over 8 hectares-a scale that is the result of deliberate choice, not chance.

A Refusal to Homogenize the Soil... 14 Plots, a Structure That Rejects Uniformity

Stella Viola di Campalto, owner and winemaker of Stella di Campalto.
[Photo by Stella di Campalto]

San Giuseppe is home to nine main vineyard plots: 'Leccio,' 'Curva,' 'Sasso,' 'Bassa,' 'Bosco,' 'Ulivo,' 'Tondino,' 'Quercia,' and 'Est.' Leccio features claystone and limestone; Curva is a mix of sandstone and siltstone; Sasso is exposed limestone. Though they share the same hill, the soils speak different languages.

The soils here have a pH ranging from 8.4 to 8.8, with low organic matter and limited water retention. Some plots even suffer from erosion. By conventional standards, these are unfavorable conditions for farming. However, Stella did not see this heterogeneity as a problem. In fact, refusing to integrate these differences became the starting point for her winery.

Map of San Giuseppe Vineyard by Stella di Campalto. [Source=Stella di Campalto]

Thus, the vineyard is further divided into 14 detailed plots. Stella treats each plot as a living entity, with differing pruning times, harvest dates, and yields. All grapes are fermented separately by plot. Only indigenous yeasts are used for spontaneous fermentation, with no artificial starters involved.

The only intervention allowed in the cellar is oxygen. Pumping over-drawing fermenting juice from the bottom of the tank and pouring it back over the top-is repeated for one hour every six hours, without pause at night or on weekends. Once fermentation is complete, the wine flows by gravity into the aging cellar, where malolactic fermentation and maturation take place. Stella tastes every barrel weekly; for her, this repetition is not labor but training to detect even the slightest differences between plots.

Grape juice of Stella di Campalto.
Photo by Stella di Campalto

'Masse': Interpretation, Not Combination

Only after this process does 'Masse' come into play-a unique concept introduced in 2011 to fully express the subtle differences between vineyard plots. Each plot has its own language. In some years, a single plot becomes a wine; in others, several plots are combined intuitively. There is no set formula for these combinations. Only the year's climate, the flow sensed in the cellar, and the character of the wine in the barrel serve as criteria. As a result, four to five different Brunello di Montalcino wines are born from a single vintage. For Stella di Campalto, blending is not about creating an average; it is an interpretation that preserves differences.

Traditional Brunello from Montalcino encapsulates a year in a single bottle. While this approach is easy to understand, it inevitably erases much. The soils of Leccio and Sasso are averaged; the texture of Curva is absorbed into the structure. Stella believes this summary damages the terroir. Thus, she listens to each plot's wine to the end before considering combinations. For her, a vintage is not something to be explained but a structure to be deconstructed.

(from left) 'Stella di Campalto Brunello di Montalcino Aria 2018' and 'Stella di Campalto Brunello di Montalcino Bacia 2019'.

'Stella di Campalto Brunello di Montalcino Aria 2018' symbolizes this philosophy. Aria is one of three wines from the 2018 vintage, with only 4,287 bottles produced. 'Aria' means 'air' in Italian, and the name was inspired by the unique air circulation within the specific sub-plot where the grapes are grown, which affects the ripening period of the fruit.

Aria is made from 100% Brunello. The name Brunello is derived from 'bruno,' meaning brown in Italian. In 1879, the Siena Ampelographic Commission confirmed through years of research that Brunello from Montalcino is the same variety as Sangiovese.

Brunello is a Sangiovese clone developed to suit the terroir of Montalcino and is currently the only variety permitted in the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG. According to DOCG regulations, Brunello di Montalcino must be aged for at least 48 months-24 months in oak barrels and 4 months in bottle. The minimum legal alcohol content is 12.5%.

The wine is fermented in large oak casks of 20 to 40 hectoliters using only indigenous vineyard yeasts. After fermentation, the wine is aged for 34 months in 15 to 17 hectoliter barrels, followed by an additional 42 months of bottle aging before release. Aria stands out for its fresh and lively redcurrant aroma, intense iris fragrance, and lingering notes of dark fruit, spices, and crushed flint. The wine features feather-soft tannins and a complex minerality in perfect harmony.

Brunello by Stella di Campalto.
Photo by Stella di Campalto

'Stella di Campalto Brunello di Montalcino Bacia 2019' is one of three wines from the 2019 vintage, with only 8,537 bottles produced. The name 'Bacia,' meaning 'kiss' in Italian, was chosen because Stella felt the wine's soft texture and raspberry aroma were reminiscent of a kiss.

Bacia is a wine that is both vibrant and robust, capturing the passion and abundant energy of an artist. Its silky tannins fill the palate, and its complexity leaves a lasting impression. While its fermentation and aging structure are similar to Aria, its bottle aging is shorter at 29 months.

A Producer Who Does Not Make a Flagship Wine

Aging barrels of Stella di Campalto.
Photo by Stella di Campalto

There is no flagship wine at Stella di Campalto. Instead, each year is divided into several bottles. This approach is far from market logic-it is difficult to remember and cumbersome to explain. Yet Stella refuses to give up this structure, believing that this inconvenience is a sign of respect for the land.

At San Giuseppe, multiple stories are always completed at once: the sentence written by the soil of Leccio, the tone left by the stones of Sasso, the blank space created by the air of Curva. Stella di Campalto does not combine these stories into one. Instead, she bottles them separately.

This is why the wines of Stella di Campalto linger longer than any explanation. They allow us to rediscover the many faces hidden within Montalcino, rather than just a single vintage. The reason Stella di Campalto separates her Brunello is simple: she realized, before anyone else, that it is impossible to tell the whole story with just one bottle.