The Fattoria di Montechiari vineyards lie on the ancient site of a military fortress destroyed by the army of Lucca during a battle against the Florentines in the heart of Tuscany.
This boutique, family-run vineyard is off the beaten path and requires a reservation for a visit and a tasting. Once inside, guests are greeted by the fourth-generation family themselves — including fourth-gen member Leonardo de Keersmaeker, who is often accompanied by his grandparents Moreno and Catherine, who brought the vision of this winery to life. The experience for guests is all-encompassing — a tour, a tasting, a meal and time spent with the family.
This organic vineyard comprises over 27 acres that produce around 40,000 bottles of wine a year, including five labels: rosso, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, oro (made of 90% chardonnay and a 10% mix of sémillon and sauvignon blanc) and its Donna Catherine Brut, made of 100% pinot noir.
Leonardo de Keersmaeker talked with Crain Currency about the family’s history and how the multiple generations work together to move the family business forward.
Can you provide a brief family history and how you began making wine?
It all started with Nello, my great-grandfather and the father of Moreno, my grandfather, who used to make wine as a hobby in the lower valley of Montecarlo. He always told my grandfather that one day, if he wanted to take over the vineyards, he would be very happy and proud. A fun fact: Even though wine has always been around, Moreno had never touched a glass of wine until he met Catherine, my grandmother, at the age of 23. His mother had always forbidden him from drinking alcoholic substances.
When Moreno turned 19, he started traveling throughout Europe, working in both Monaco and Dusseldorf in hospitality, and eventually ended up in Brussels working for the Italian agency of tourism. At the age of 23, he met Catherine, fell in love, and that's when he also discovered a deep appreciation for French grape typologies through Catherine’s father, who was a great admirer of French wines. It's at that moment that Moreno started dreaming that he would start his own winery one day.
Moreno first built his success through a travel agency he founded and had the opportunity to meet a lot of important people along the way — such as Dr. Giacomo Tachis, one of the most influential oenologists in Italy and the world.
In the early 1970s, when Moreno had the unique opportunity to buy an abandoned customs house back in his hometown, located on the top of a hill surrounded by old vineyards, he asked Dr. Tachis to advise him on building out his winery vision. This was the start of Fattoria di Montechiari, with a focus on French grape typologies on Tuscan soil.
After a couple of productive years of winemaking, we were also very proud to onboard Stefano Chioccioli, who is still our head oenologist and had been a student of Dr. Tachis. Everything grew very organically, prioritizing passion and the love for the authenticity of their story over operating the winery with the goal of maximizing profits.
What family members are currently involved in the family business, and what are their roles?
Everyone is involved in a different kind of way.
My grandparents are still very active but more on the social aspect, keeping in touch with all their loyal customers as well as welcoming new customers during their wine-tasting experiences. I would call them Montechiari's "old school" public relations experts.
I am currently working full time in the winery, responsible for the supervision of all operations and the commercial part of the winery. It has been an honor and pleasure to be able to work alongside my grandparents. I don't think many people get to experience that.
My parents, Alessandra and Pieter, are currently working part time in the winery, supporting me both on the operational and commercial parts while running their own business in Brussels. They also supervise a new project which we initiated three years ago, which will result in adding a sixth wine to our portfolio.
Both my sister, Allegra, and brother, Valentino, are taking ownership of other projects while having their own full-time jobs in France. Allegra, active within the fashion industry and more specifically as a project coordinator, is taking the lead in coordinating and organizing weddings and other private events at Montechiari while also managing our content creation. Valentino, active as a chef de partie in a two-star Michelin restaurant in Monaco, is taking the lead in selecting the right foods for the wine tastings.
What is your succession plan for the family business?
We are currently undergoing a very slow succession, prioritizing the time we still have with our grandparents first while thinking ahead on how we want to further grow and change certain operational aspects of the winery. These changes will not affect our philosophy about the wines and winery but, rather, help us move forward in today's rapidly changing world.
In the eyes of the younger generations, we see the winery as a place with a lot of potential, where over the next couple of years everyone will be able to contribute to its vision in different ways, complementing each other due to our different backgrounds and professional activities, such as tourism, finance, cooking and event management.
Even though it's a continuous project the whole family is working on, my parents will be the first to officially take over the responsibility of leading the winery in the next couple of years.
Under the lead of both the parents and grandchildren, we would like to develop the following: Propose unique events created around specific experiences, collaborating with brands or organizations that share the same values; open a restaurant offering seasonal food only; and develop meaningful relations with a vast selection of renowned restaurants who can transmit the story and quality of our wine.
What do you see as your family legacy?
What we see as our family legacy is essentially the importance of conviviality and genuinely sharing what we have at home with others, out of passion for the quality of our products and the nature surrounding us. This has been passed down by my grandparents in many ways — through love, affection and authenticity, about which I could tell you a thousand stories.
What we hear a lot from people who visit us is that they feel like they were welcomed by a longtime family friend. This is exactly what we really find important and what we value.
We take the time to connect with the moment and little things in life. And in the fast-paced life we are living today, we think this is very important. You are welcome in our own home, guided through the wine cellars by one of our family members, and get to taste the wines and enjoy local food around a real conversation. And above that, we share with you the place we love the most in the whole world, with a 360-degree view on the Lucca valleys you could look at for days.