Susanna Grassi was destined to make wine. Her family has been the inhabitants of their Tuscan estate in the Lamole region of Chianti Classico since 1600. They were originally the local blacksmiths (“i fabbri”), and also winemakers – like so many families in this part of the world, they grew grape vines and olive trees that surrounded their estate. Today, Susanna leads a small team that makes some of the most distinctive and elegant wines in this part of Chianti Classico: lifted, long-lived sangiovese-based reds, a white and a rosé that help to define one of the most presigious corners of this most famous region.

In her early adult life, Susanna’s path took her on a different trajectory: abroad and then to Milan, where she led a fast-paced career in fashion in the 1980s and 1990s. In the late ‘90s she returned to her family’s estate and vineyards, which by then were in great disrepair but in which she could also see a breathtaking beauty. With a background in business and the nostalgic desire to restore the property where she grew up, she set out bringing life back to vineyards and villa alike, with a goal of making wines that spoke of the Lamole hills, in the way that her great-grandfather, Olinto, had generations before her.

Winemaking is an important part of the Grassi family’s history. Olinto began selling his bottled wine in the 1920s, which was uncommon at that time (and in fact, the labels that Susanna uses today are copies of the labels that Olinto created for his wines 100 years ago). Susanna’s grandfather came next, who emphasized growing and selling the grapes for greater profit than selling their own finished wine. Her father took over in the 1960s, but his career led him outside of the wine world. And in the late 1990s, Susanna returned to her family’s homestead. She learned from her father’s friend and neighbour, who was well-versed in Lamole viticulture, and who gradually helped her bring the property back to its former splendour. In 2000, she created the I Fabbri company. It took years to rebuild the centuries-old terraces that the vineyards are planted on, as well as the home and winery structures… let alone farming the vines to a quality beyond what they had ever seen before. Today, Susanna is one of the few women to own and lead an estate such as this in Tuscany, and has since done so while creating some of the most distinctive and beautiful wines in the famed Chianti region.

The I Fabbri labels used by Susanna today are replicas of her great-grandfather’s wines 100 years ago.

The little sub-region of Lamole boasts some of the highest elevations in Chianti. I Fabbri’s 9ha of vineyards sit between 550-650m above sea level, planted on those ancient terraces that Susanna and her sister, Maddelena rebuilt beginning in 2002. The vineyards form a natural amphitheatre that stretch out and surround their beloved Casole estate; vines are Certified Organic and farmed along biodynamic principles. I Fabbri’s efforts in sustainability extend to the cellar, where energy saving measures are in place, winemaking by-products are reused, and lightweight glass bottles are used. Grapes are hand-harvested and wines are fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts in concrete; once vinified, wines age in concrete and large French oak.

The resulting wines – both red and white – are deeply perfumed and expressive, with very fine tannins in the reds, and endless aging potential.