The origin story of Riecine is one twisted with many names and handovers, having passed through four different ownerships since its modern founding by John Dunkley and his wife, Palmina, in 1971. The land, though, remains of singular origin in one of the highest-lying portions of Gaiole, one of Chianti Classico’s most treasured, high-altitude UGA’s.
Riecine finds itself referenced in the maps of the Abbey of San Lorenzo a Coltibuono as far back as the 12th century, where its vineyards came into possession of the monastery in December 1112.
John Dunkley originally purchased 1.5 hectares of land at Riecine from the neighboring monastery, Badia a Coltibuono.

Together with his wife they restored the old stone villa and nursed the plants back to health. Their first vintage of Chianti Classico - 1973 - was released in 1975. John Dunkley was a tried and true believer in the fruit from Gaiole and the purity of the Sangiovese grape, a rarity at a time when many other growers in the region favored heavy extraction and the inclusion of Bordeaux varietals.
In 1991 Dunkley hired Sean O’Callaghan (“il guercio”) as an apprentice, consolidating the domaine’s verve for single-varietal style.
In 1998, John and Palmina passed away and ownership was transferred to the Baumann family from New York. Together with the Baumann’s, Sean O’Callaghan continued to usher Riecine into the new millennium, expanding its production line, reputation and international presence.
In 2011, Lana Frank picked up the baton of ownership, seeking to preserve the traditional style of winemaking but equipping Riecine with state of the art equipment. The cellar went under immediate renovation, and Lana brought on board 12 new unglazed concrete tanks designed by the French company, Nomblot. Most of Riecine’s wines are still today produced in these tanks. She also made several important vineyard acquisitions and brought back the winery’s historic winemaking consultant, Carlo Ferrini.

In 2015, Alessandro Campatelli arrived as in-house enologist at the winery. He quickly became the director and head winemaker, having several years of experience working with Andrea Franchetti at Tenuta di Trinoro.
In July of 2024, Alessandro purchased the company shares from Lana becoming the owner of Riecine while maintaining his role of director, enologist, and head of production.

The vineyards of Riecine are positioned between two waterways (hence the name Riecine - ri meaning between two rivers); the first running from Badia a Coltibuono alongisde the Bosco vineyard to the foot of Barbischio. The stream divides the valley, one side climbs towards the Montegrossi hill, the other turns towards Riecine. This is the northern sector of Gaiole, known as “Montegrossi”. Although the character of the wines of this area is rather distant from the floral elegance of Lamole, it tends to a more pronounced fruity tone and an elegant structure with good texture at the same time. The soil closest to the gully is very loose and schistose, with a high amount of iron and other minerals. It is known as “macigno”, and Alessandro insists that it adds a saltiness to the wines. As one climbs from the Bosco vineyard to Riecine, the soil becomes rockier, composed primarily of the albarese sandstone typical of this slope of Gaiole. Albarese is a breeding ground for strong tannins.

All of Riecine’s vineyards have been cultivated under organic regime since 2006, though by choice the wines are not labeled organic. Alessandro has increased vegetation in the vineyards (all are planted with grass between the vines) and vine topping/defoliation has been completely omitted. When it comes to training methods, Alessandro is keen on a very low double Guyot, restrained in size and vigour, but also considers replanting to alberello when possible and implementing a braided canopy to shade vines which are evermore exposed to harsh, hot summer weather.

Alessandro’s winemaking style prefers an increased cold maceration period for more extraction of fruit and flavors, together with simultaneous carbonic maceration that is triggered by the weight of the crushed grapes. This method - aiming for purity and freshness of fruit - has proved one of the biggest stylistic changes to the wines, ever since its inception in 2016. Leading Italian consulting enologist, Carlo Ferrini, has a longstanding collaboration with Riecine.
At harvest, Alessandro cools the grapes and avoids pressing the same day to prevent fermentation from happening too fast; his goal being to stretch out maceration in tank. On the second day of fermentation, skins are completely separated from the juice and the must is cooled. After 12-24 hours, cool juice is pumped over the skins (delestage) then fermentation carries on for the next 14-20 days, after which the wine is left with a submerged cap for 5-25 days (depending on the wine). The overarching goal is to preserve aromas and freshness while allowing increased skin-to-juice contact without using any sulfur and with spontaneous fermentation. Aging times and vessels vary depending on the wine, but 3 months before bottling, all wines are transferred back to open air cement vats to undergo natural tartaric and protein stabilization.