Paolo Cianferoni

The Honours

Certified-organic status is the clearest external mark attached to Caparsa, and it sits alongside a directorship that has run since 1982. In Paolo Cianferoni’s hands, the standard stays practical: the health of the wine is treated as the most direct measure of quality. Paolo Cianferoni puts the principle plainly: "Caparsa's philosophy can be summed up in a single word: tradition." Here, tradition is not used as decoration. It means care at every stage of production, from the choices that define each cuvée to the finished wine’s balance of acidity, aroma, and tannin. Nothing is left outside the work.

The Craft

The cellar work is hands-on and terroir-led, with tradition shaping both the idea of the wine and the way it is made. At Caparsa, age-old materials and methods are used as working tools, not as display. The wines are aged in large oak vats, small oak vats, or cement depending on the cuvée, and those decisions keep technique aligned with the character being pursued. There is no single cellar formula imposed across the board; each wine follows its own path. Sangiovese is the base for the Chianti Classico wines linked to his work, and it sets the framework for the wines’ distinctive acidity, aromas, and tannins. The aim is territorial authenticity, with structure and fragrance kept in balance rather than pushed apart. The result is a style that stays readable as a product of place.

The Career

Daily work began in 1982, and Cianferoni remembers that start not simply as the beginning of a job but as the beginning of a life built in common: "I started working here daily in 1982... We built a large family." His account of formation reaches beyond a single classroom or cellar. "The teachers were not only my father, who was a professor at the University of Florence, but also the ex-sharecroppers from when I was a boy... They were my teachers in both life and work." The line places academic knowledge alongside rural experience, and it explains a career shaped by close observation, inherited practice, and steady repetition. From that beginning, the path remains concentrated rather than scattered. The role is director, the place is Radda in Chianti, and the work is a sustained practice of organic, tradition-led Chianti Classico production based on Sangiovese.

Signature

Paolo's signature wines include Chianti Classico Riserva Caparsino, Chianti Classico Riserva Doccio a Matteo, Chianti Classico Caparsa, Mimma" IGT Toscana, and Rosso di Caparsa.

In Their Words “The teachers were not only my father, who was a professor at the University of Florence, but also the ex-sharecroppers from when I was a boy... They were my teachers in both life and work.” “Caparsa's philosophy can be summed up in a single word: tradition.”