Chiara Condello

Chiara grew up in Fiumana di Predappio near her family winery Condé, founded by her father Francesco Condello back in 2001. Chiara studied Economics at Bocconi University in Milan and then, at the age of 24, she took over her family estate fully committed to not only preserving her family winery, but also to elevate the reputation of the Sangiovese grape to new heights.

Chiara and her family believe strongly in the value of Predappio, a subzone in Romagna known as one of the very best for the production of Sangiovese. It’s an area characterised by a rich and complex soil and favourable conditions for the grape, with a cooler climate than neighbouring Tuscany.

A few years ago Chiara started an exciting new project under her own label. The range consists of two 100% Sangiovese wines:  a ‘normale’ called Romagna Sangiovese Predappio and her increasingly famous Riserva Le Lucciole.

Later on, another wine debuting with the 2018 Vintage named Lo Stralisco Riserva was added to her portfolio. This is a tiny 500 bottles cuvee, 100% Sangiovese. No wines were produced in 2019 and the expected next release will be the 2020 vintage.

Chiara’s wines are made from some of the best plots of the Condé vineyards, close to a forest where the vines are deeply rooted in calcareous-clay soil rich in sedimentary sandstones called “spugnone” and fossil marines. Farming is organic, with meticulous focus on biodiversity and grape quality. In the cellar, Chiara, a disciple of the late, great Giulio Gambelli, follows a long maceration, minimal intervention approach with spontaneous fermentation in open-top wooden vats with indigenous yeasts and ageing in large neutral vessels. The resulting wines are pure and expressive, richly textured and deeply layered with tannins of rare elegance.

Chiara’s debut vintage was in 2015 and since then her reputation has soared.