Before Massi di Mandorlaia was acquired in 1998, the estate was utilized as grazing land. The development of wine production started from scratch. Titti and myself begun converting the bare land into vineyards but always respecting the existing hedges, dry-stone walls and woods.

Massi di Mandorlaia is a sloping hill with optimum exposure South/South-west at an elevation between 320 and 200 m (1050 to 660 ft). Soils in the lower part of the Estate are sandy-loamy (locally called "terrenello"=light soil) while in the upper part of the estate they are more sandy-clay (locally called "terren-grosso"= heavy soil). In both cases a good drainage is assured by abundant rocks and stones.

When the development started it was immediately clear that it was a challenge due to the extremely rocky soils. The first planting occurred in late 1999 and today the vineyards cover 52 (125 acres) ha most of which will be Morellino di Scansano DOC (46 ha , 107 acres) while a minor part will produce IGT wines.
 

The planting intensity is 5000 to 7250 vine trees per ha (2000 to 2900/acre), and from the very beginning controlled turfing is applied to limit erosion and to contribute to the wine quality by limiting the grape yield at 1-1.2 kg per plant.