Torre a Cona, an eighteenth-century villa between Florence and Rignano sull’Arno, boasts 19 hectares of vineyards, a sixteenth-century cellar and an extraordinary selection of wines
Take the road that goes down from Florence towards Rignano sull’Arno. Soft hills, rows of cypresses, silence. And then, suddenly, an eighteenth-century villa that emerges from the countryside like a still thought amidst the noise of the world. Is called Tower in Cona. It is the estate of the Rossi di Montelera family. Here, it’s really worth stopping.
The property extends over 200 hectares, including Italian gardens, woods, vineyards and olive groves, at an altitude between 300 and 410 meters above sea level. A mosaic of environments that the family has been able to preserve and transform into something more than a sumptuous whim: a wine-growing reality of the highest quality, capable of best speaking the wine-growing language of the area.
A cellar with five centuries of history
To tell the truth, Even before the villa, the cellar existed. The walls that today house Torre a Cona’s production date back to before the 17th century, probably among the oldest structures on the estate. It was the Padoa family, who took over in the early 19th century, who renovated them: the signs they left behind are still visible, small signatures engraved in the tuff of memory.
Today, those spaces articulate three distinct functions. On the upper floor, temperature-controlled tanks manage fermentation and maceration in the post-harvest phase. Going underground, the barrel cellar houses the large oak barrels, where the wines age in conditions of constant humidity and temperature all year round. In an adjacent structure, also historic, the Vin Santos rest: five, six years in small Slavonian oak barrels, sealed with food-grade cement.
The vineyards of Torre a Cona
The vine in Torre a Cona is not a recent guest. The roots of cultivation actually go back to remote times, but it is the intervention of Rossi family from Montelera for having given structure and ambition to this ancient vocation. The vineyards today extend over approximately 19 hectares, distributed on different sides of the estate, with soils that change composition: clay, sandstone, marl outcrops. The panorama includes Tuscan varieties, but not only: Sangiovese, Colorino, Merlot, Trebbiano Toscano, Malvasia Bianca.
The most illustrious wines of Torre a Cona
The Mill of the Innocents it was born from a specific plot after years of micro-vinification. The first vintage marketed dates back to the 2019 harvest. It is a pure Sangiovese, classic and contemporary at the same time, which in 2025 received the prestigious recognition of “Red of the Year” by Gambero Rosso, in its Italian Wine Guide.
Next to him, a range of reds built on very specific logic. The CrociferroChianti Colli Fiorentini DOCG from Sangiovese and Colorino vines, ages for about eight months in oak and steel: ruby red, aromas of fresh fruit, lively acidity. The Badia a Corte, Riserva DOCG from pure Sangiovese, rises in tone with 24 months in large barrels and a deeper profile, with silky tannins. Terre di Cino, another single vineyard Reserve, presents a decidedly complex and interesting organoleptic picture, with hints of leather, tobacco and spices.
Torre a Cona’s offer, however, is not limited to red wines. Fontesanta is a rosé from Merlot, pale pink in colour, with aromas that poetically recall rose petals and grapefruit. Vermentino, in Maremma Toscana DOC, instead comes from clay and limestone soils far from the villa: it is shaped through fermentation in steel, and returns a floral bouquet and a clear flavor.
The very rare editions of Vin Santo
Finally, Torre a Cona produces two types of Vin Santo. Merlaia comes from Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia del Chianti; the Fonti e Lecceta, called Occhio di Pernice, from selected Sangiovese. The bunches are harvested, left to dry in small boxes in the ventilated rooms of the old mill, then gently pressed in January. The thick must rests for years in the caratelli. The editions are very limited: 1,200 bottles of 375 milliliters for Merlaia, just 900 for Occhio di Pernice. Amber, dried figs, honey, sweet spices leave room for long and fruitful meditations, reminding the taster that in Torre a Cona time passes slower and calm and light-heartedness have the way of erasing the most burdensome worries of daily life.
