Fonterutoli
Discover Fonterutoli
Last updated on October 16, 2026Introduction
Fonterutoli — pronounced Fonterùtoli — is a frazione of the comune of Castellina in Chianti, in the province of Siena, with 80 inhabitants at the 2001 count and standing at 502 metres.
It lies in the heart of the Chianti, along the Strada regionale 222 Chiantigiana a little beyond Castellina in the direction of Siena. From here the panorama is unique: Siena itself is visible, and the hamlet looks out over the landscape of the Sienese Valdelsa.
Its origins are ancient enough to be known to the Etruscans and the Romans, as the names Fons Rutolae and Fons Rutilant record. The Etruscan necropoli del Poggino lies in a grove nearby.
The castle of Fonterutoli is the property of the marchesi Mazzei, who established themselves here in 1435. Its appearance has not changed much over the centuries and some original buildings survive; only the original castle itself was replaced, by the seigneurial villa, at the end of the 16th century.
Inside the borgo are the chiesa di San Miniato and the villa Mazzei, the latter with striking Italian gardens.
Architecture
The borgo is the monument, not any one building in it. Fonterutoli has kept its form across the centuries, conserving some of its original constructions, so the interest is in the ensemble: a short lane, Via Ottone di Sassonia, with the working buildings of an estate along it.
The villa replaced the castle, and the date is known. The original castle was substituted by the villa padronale at the end of the 16th century — the usual Tuscan trajectory from fortified seat to seigneurial house, here recorded rather than inferred.
The gardens are formal. The villa Mazzei carries giardini all'italiana, which in a hamlet of eighty people is a deliberate statement of rank.
The church is San Miniato, within the borgo.
The newest architecture here is underground. The cellar is organised on three levels of depth so the fruit moves by gravity, with the barrel store at fifteen metres cut against exposed rock down which five water tables run, doing the work of a humidity plant. It is part of the Toscana Wine Architecture circuit.
How it was built and evolved over time
The ground itself is the first material. The estate describes a unique land to which the breakdown of alberese and sandstone rocks has given a stony, complex soul — the same two stones the Rocca at Castellina was dressed from and the tombs at the Poggino were built with.
The old fabric is conservation, not reconstruction. The appearance of the borgo has not changed much over the centuries and some original constructions remain; the single large intervention was the sixteenth-century villa standing in for the castle.
The cellar was designed around a force, not a floor plan. Agnese Mazzei's project is set on three levels of depth precisely so that grapes harvested on the yard can descend through each stage of vinification and wood maturation in the most natural way possible: by gravity. It is described as modern and low-impact, keeping a secular knowledge.
The tanks are sized to the land, not the volume. 74 truncated-cone steel vats of 100 hectolitres allow the grapes of each parcel to be worked separately, safeguarding biodiversity and producing a series of microvinifications; with skilful punch-downs and long macerations these yield wines of exceptional colour extraction and particularly soft, elegant tannins.
The barrel cellar is climate-controlled by geology. Fifteen metres down, among more than 3,000 oak casks, temperature and the right degree of humidity are guaranteed by five water tables that run entirely naturally along the exposed rock walls.
Frequently asked questions
Is this where the black cockerel comes from?
It is where the story is set. Fonterutoli was the seat of the agreements that ended the Florence–Siena dispute over the Chianti, and the legend attached to them has two knights riding from their cities at the first cock-crow and meeting near here. The source tells it as a legend, and so does this page.
Can I just walk in?
Into the hamlet, which is on the public road; not into the cellar. Cellar visits are booked and run 75 minutes to 1 hour 45.
What can I taste?
Four wines on the standard Fonterutoli Wine Tour; five of your choosing on the Private VIP Tour; six on either of the two long tastings, one of them built on three vintages each of Concerto di Fonterutoli and Siepi.
Is there somewhere to eat?
Yes — the Osteria di Fonterutoli, run by the estate, which also sells a combined cellar-and-table experience.
How long have the Mazzei been here?
Since 1435. The original castle was replaced by the villa at the end of the 16th century; little else has changed.
What is the 998 plaque about?
In that year Otto III ended the contests between the dioceses of Siena, Fiesole and Arezzo and fixed their boundaries and possessions. The lane is named Via Ottone di Sassonia after him.
Are the Etruscan tombs here?
Yes. The necropoli del Poggino is in a grove in this locality — four visible tombs joined by a woodland path, and free to visit.