History
TRADITION SINCE 1882 Our tradition begins in 1882 with Angiolo Piccini, from a small family enterprise of only 7 ha. Guided only by passion for winemaking , from him the next generations inherited the most important rule in Piccini winemaking: “It is not how much you do, but how much passion you put in the doing.”
Nowadays, Tenute Piccini has four separate estates in its portfolio and ranks as one of the most recognized brands of Tuscan wine in the world. Mario and Martina Piccini, now the IV generation of Piccini Family remember what their father once said: “Everything that we do in the present is both for the past and for the future.”
This has been Piccini’s guiding philosophy over the generations of the family, putting together the great values of the past and keeping our constant focus on the future.
First Generation
Angiolo Piccini founded the company with his wife Maria Teresa Totti more than
a century ago with the purchase of 7 ha in Poggibonsi.
The couple started production of Chianti in straw-wrapped flasks and
initiated small increments of growth throughout the 1920s with additional purchases of land.
Second Generation
Angiolo's heir, Mario, took over in 1925 and safely steered the company through the difficult years of the Great Depression and the Second World War. Mario's greatest contribution was to bring Piccini to its first overseas clients. He exported Chianti “Il Preferito” (the preferred) to Germany and Austria two countries that remain very faithful to the Piccini brand. Nearly 80 percent of Piccini's wines are currently sold outside Italy today.
Third Generation
When Mario Piccini died in 1963, the company had grown to approximately 150 ha and was well established internationally. Pierangelo Piccini and his wife Marcella Sanmicheli (the current President of the Piccini Group) were next in line to bring dynamic change to the company. They enlarged the group’s portfolio of products and established a competitive price regime for value wines – a policy the company adheres to strongly today .
Perhaps the most important change brought during the Pierangelo Piccini years was a focus on other wines beyond the flagship Chianti. He told his children: “The only wines worth making are the ones you believe in” and proceeded to make a few esoteric wines that combine his passion for fine art and winemaking.
Fourth Generation
Mario Piccini, the current managing director, started working with his father in 1982 when he was 20 years old. His sister Martina joined the company about ten years later. “My father made it very clear that we would go nowhere without energy and passion. There is a big difference between inheriting and building a wine company and under my father’s guidance we built it as a team.”
An excellent example of Piccini teamwork is how the family agreed on orange for its Chianti label in 2002. “My father wanted a red label that would be in line with Chianti tradition and my brother pushed for a yellow label that would represent a new approach to Chianti,” says Martina: “My role was to get them to compromise and settle on orange.”
Under the leadership of Mario and Martina, Piccini relies on a team of young professionals in Italy and strong partners abroad for its growing distribution network that already spans an impressive 72 countries.
In honor of Martina’s great-great grandmother and her mother, Piccini also boasts a strong team of women in both the executive offices and the winery. “Orange is a color that transmits energy, youth and a positive can-do approach,” says Martina. “We’ve taken that orange and have applied it to everything else we do.”
©Piccini