Cupano

About Cupano

In 1994, Ornella Tondini and Lionel Cousin purchased and abandoned farm near Camigliano, in the Brunello region; cows roamed the fields that would soon be planted... to Sangiovese Grosso (and, later, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon). Resting on a lonely plain, Cupano occupies a beautiful, windswept spot, and it was exactly what Ornella and Lionello had wanted for their estate. Lionel, who died in 2021, had studied with renowned vigneron Henri Jayer, and he began planting vines in the estate’s virgin soils in 1997, discovering that the land once held ancient seabed and finding bits of a fossilized whale skeleton remains of ancient seashells in the rocky soils, all components that lend a piquant minerality to the wine. Cupano’s inaugural vintage was in 2000, and since that time, the estate has grown to 84 acres and achieved international acclaim. Cupano continues under the guidance of Ornella, her daughter Andrea Polidoro, and Cupano’s longtime estate manager. Cupano’s single-minded pursuit to craft natural, finessed, and aromatic wines vintage after vintage, and Cupano’s elegant Brunello, Brunello Riserva, Rosso di Montalcino, and Ombrone are beloved by global wine lovers.