In the latter part of 2000, the Folonari family redefined its company structure. Previously a single entity with extensive estate holdings in Tuscany and particularly in the commune of Greve in the Chianti zone, the family was owner of the primary Nozzole and Ruffino brands as well as wines under the Cabreo, Spalletti, Lodola Nuova and Il Greppone Mazzi names. The subdivision of the estate vineyards and reapportionment of brands resulted in the creation of two new entities of which Tenute Ambrogio Folonari is one. Dr. Ambrogio Folonari and his son, Giovanni Folonari, now own and manage five previously existing estates as well as five recently acquired ones, in Tuscany and elsewhere, which have or will come into production between 2002 and the latter part of the decade.

The three principal estates lie in relative proximity to each other in the commune of Greve. The first, the Tenuta di Nozzole, was originally owned by Letizia Rimediotti-Mattioli, who with her husband, a cavalry officer in World War II, transformed the property from animal breeding and grain cultivation to vineyards and wine production. The estate is located in a rugged, mountainous area of great melancholy beauty and covers roughly 1,000 acres, of which approximately 225 are planted in vines interspersed with olive groves and forest. The Rimediottis produced wine which for several years was commercialized by the Folonari family, who subsequently purchased the estate in 1971.

Situated just north of the village of Greve in Chianti at Passo dei Pecorai, the Nozzole estate produces a Chianti Classico Riserva as well as a single-vineyard Chianti Classico Riserva from the superb "La Forra" parcel. Cabernet Sauvignon, cultivated principally in another hillside parcel of the estate planted in 1981 called "Costa Il Pareto," yields a pure Cabernet super Tuscan wine first produced in the 1987 vintage. The principal white vineyards of the Nozzole estate, the "Le Bruniche" and "Casa Vecchia" vineyards, once planted in Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia, were replanted to Chardonnay in the early 1980s. These vineyards now produce Nozzole Le Bruniche, a distinctive, pure varietal Chardonnay.

Prior to the restructuring of the family holdings, the two other properties in the Greve district contributed to bottlings under the Ruffino brand. The Fattoria di Zano, purchased in 1967, is graced by a lovely villa and chapel overlooking the village of Greve from the crest of a steep hillside. This estate has been the source of grapes for the super Tuscan wine Cabreo Il Borgo, a blend of 70 percent Sangiovese and 30 percent Cabernet Sauvignon produced from highly selected grapes first released in 1985 with the 1982 vintage. The third estate, the Casa di Sala, near Panzano south of Greve, first came into production under lease in 1980 and was later purchased.

Highly selected fruit from this estate yields Cabreo La Pietra, an elegant, barrique-fermented Chardonnay. Both Cabreo Il Borgo and Cabreo La Pietra were conceived of as IGT, or "Indicazione Geografica Tipica," wines for two reasons: first, to express the innovation and creativity of contemporary Tuscan winemaking; and second, to exploit the enormous potential of Tuscany's soils and local traditions of producing excellent quality wines. Vintages released to date have been highly acclaimed and have placed both wines among the ranks of sought-after, new-wave Tuscan wines. The term "cabreo" refers to old, hand-drawn Tuscan maps; "borgo" to a small village or collection of houses; and "pietra" is translated as "stone." The Zano and Casa di Sala properties are together referred to as the "Tenute del Cabreo," and together support 125 acres of vines from which all wines will be completely estate produced and bottled as of the 2000 vintage.

The fourth brand, based in the Chianti Rufina zone at the estate of Poggio Reale, was at the end of the last century a holding of the Counts of Spalletti. At that time producers of grapes and olive oil and owners of substantial properties throughout the Chianti Rufina zone, they established, in 1912, a small bottling facility at their 55-acre estate of the Fattoria di Colognole, allowing them to commercialize their viticultural production independently. This was the first year of production of wines under the Chianti Spalletti label; in 1936 these commercial activities were expanded through the acquisition of the estate of Poggio Reale in the Rufina zone and its facilities. Soon thereafter, Chianti Poggio Reale was launched under the image of the estate's renaissance villa, completed in the XVIth century and based on original drawings of Michelangelo, mentor of the architect Ammannati who built it.

The villa overlooks the Rufina zone and approximately 87 acres of estate vineyards which climb up the bank of the Sieve River. Both estates are planted principally to the classic Sangiovese, Canaiolo and Colorino vines of Tuscany, with small plantings of Malvasia and Trebbiano. In 1983 the company introduced Chianti Poggio Reale Banda Blu, a wine positioned at the reserve level. At the end of the 1980s, the Folonari family acquired all rights to the labels, denominations and production of the Spalletti brand.

The fifth existing estate is the Fattoria di Gracciano in Montepulciano, a pristine estate with 48 acres of vineyards purchased in 1994. The property itself, originally owned by the Mazzucchelli Svetoni family, dates from the 14th century; the graceful villa from the mid-1800s. The land in this area, which lies at an altitude of 1,050 feet, is much flatter, sandier and lower in clay than that in the Chianti zone to the north, with hardly any rocks, and the slightly warmer climate results in a slightly shorter vine cycle and thus an earlier harvest. Between 1994 and 2000, the wine was bottled as Lodola Nuova Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG under the Ruffino brand, taking its name from the Lodola lark which passes through the Montepulciano area each year on its migratory route. During that time 32 acres of its Sangiovese Grosso vineyards, the estate's predominant variety, were replanted; minor plantings of Canaiolo, Prugnolo Gentile, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot complete the varietal representation.

Vineyard yields have been sharply reduced and stainless steel fermentation tanks installed to complement the traditional Slavonian oak casks used for aging. The property's entire yield is vinified on the estate to produce a classic wine of Montepulciano of the finest quality which meets the highest contemporary winemaking standards. As of the 2000 vintage, under the Tenute Ambrogio Folonari ownership, the wine has been recast as Calvano Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG, Fattoria di Gracciano, with a classic second wine under the Rosso di Montalcino DOC denomination.

The estate of La Fuga is the first of the five newly acquired properties to come into production. Located west-southwest of the town of Montalcino, it was originally part of the Camiliano estate. The 75 acre property was split off in the early 1980s and sold to owners who developed it over two decades before concluding the sale to the Folonari family in February of 2002. The La Fuga estate is situated in an area of the Montalcino appellation considered to be among the finest. Of the estate's total area, 25 acres are planted to vines registered under three separate appellations, with 16.25 acres classified for Brunello di Montalcino and 4.37 acres each classified for Rosso di Montalcino and IGT Toscana. The primary vineyard, which covers 11.25 acres entirely under the Brunello designation, is planted to 20 year old Sangiovese vines. The remaining vineyards were planted between 1993 and 2000. The principal wines produced are La Fuga Brunello di Montalcino D.O.C.G. and La Fuga Brunello di Montalcino Riserva "Le Due Sorelli" D.O.C.G., produced only in superior vintages.

In 1999, the Folonari family began to aquire property in the commune of Castagneto Carducci, in the province of Livorno, near the Mediterranean coast. In this area, during the 1990s, the Bolgheri D.O.C. was resoundingly affirmed. Tenute di Ambrogio e Giovanni Folonari assembled approximately 100 acres of land of which 60 are planted in vines and the remainder in process of being planted. An ultra-modern winery designed by the Parisian architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte was completed at the end of 2002. The estate’s first releases were the 2004 vintage of Campo al Mare Vermentino di Toscana I.G.T. and the 2003 vintage of Campo al Mare Bolgheri D.O.C., a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, both released in early 2005. These will be followed by other wines yet to be determined to complete the range.

Also in the Maremma, further inland at Monte Cucco, is a 165-acre property which began development in 2001. Monte Cucco is south of Siena, just southwest of Montalcino toward Scansano. Plantings will eventually extend to 125 acres of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah to produce an IGT Toscano Rosso.

Beyond Tuscany, an estate in Friuli of 67 acres has been purchased to be replanted to Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc. The final project is a property in the Puglia region along the Adriatic coast at the southeastern extremity of the boot for future development.

In this revitalized enterprise, it is Ambrogio and Giovanni Folonari's philosophy to produce distinctive, small-production wines from a portfolio of estates, exclusively from owned grapes, which reflect their individual terroirs. New vineyard plantings are similarly following a considerably different production philosophy: as opposed to a density of 2,300 vines per hectare with a relatively high per-vine yield, plantings are being increased to a density of 5,000 vines per hectare, with pruning down to at most two spurs per plant in order to lower per-vine yield but improve overall qualitative productivity. The objective is to average three tons of fruit per hectare as opposed to the legal limit of eight tons under IGT denomination or seven and a half tons under DOC regulations.

In the area of vinification, the focus is on the most gentle treatment possible of the grapes during production. The destemming process, for example, uses two conduits rather than a screw-auger, which leads into a perforated cylinder in which the skins are separated from the stems without shredding. The Sangiovese is in contact with the skins for a total of about ten days, of which four to five account for the fermentation period at a temperature of 28ºC (79ºF); the Cabernet is similarly fermented but is in contact with the skins for a total of roughly three weeks. Three maceration methods are used: manual punch-down; mechanized submersion of the cap with pistons; and juice pump-over. The skins are then drained of wine and then gently balloon-pressed. They are then sent to the Berta Distillery in Piedmont for production of grappa.

In Chardonnay production, the grapes are chilled for four to five hours, pressed, cold-settled and drained of lees and solids. Fermentation takes place at 18ºC (64ºF) in stainless steel for Le Bruniche and for Cabreo La Pietra the juice is transferred to barrels for both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations. Wood is half new and the balance comprised of a combination of one and two years' use all French oak which are primarily Allier with a small percentage Limousin. Oenologist Michel Rolland has been consulting for the Folonaris since 1995 and will continue to do so for the estates of the Tenute Ambrogio Folonari.