BOUTIQUE TUSCAN WINE ESTATE FOR SALE IN VOLTERRA, TUSCANY

The Property is situated 10km east of Volterra at 420m above sea level in the heart of Tuscany, Italy. 
The main road to Volterra  is 4 km away. 
A historic U-Shaped country villa sitting on 7.5 ha of agricultural land located inside a hunting reserve. 
The main house is built on two levels with a total living surface of approximately 560sqm. 
An underground garage/wine storage of ca.70sqm and a winery building of 225sqm as well as a wooden tractor and agro equipment shed of ca145.sqm complete the  winery  facilities. 
A keeper apartment of 54sqm is part of the winery complex. 
The villa dates back to the 15th century when it was a fortified outpost belonging to the nearby castle. 
It was expanded several times to accommodate cropsharing farmers that produced grain, wool, olive oil and wine for the castle .  
The current owners bought the property in 1999 and carefully restored the main house in its original form. Internal spaces were rearranged for modern living with large living, dining and entertainment areas including about 100sqm of covered external terraces. 

The two levels of each ca.280sqm surface contain a large living and dining area on the west ground floor. 
The dining area connects to an open plan kitchen. 
The master bedroom with integrated bathroom is upstairs together with 2 large offices/studies/libraries. 
The Eastwing of the house has upstairs 3 en-suit guest bedrooms and downstairs a fully equipped visitor apartment with two bedrooms, one bathroom and a kitchen/living area. 
This guest apartment has its own covered terrace, so guests can live rather independently from their hosts. 
In total the main house has 6 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms of which 5 are ensuite. 
A 14x7msalt water swimming pool with a roman stair access sits between the main house and the winery. 
The pool is completely fenced for child security and is connected to the thermal solar heating system to extend the swimming season. 
A pump house and a shower/changing room are next to it. This is a small and compact state of the art facility made for the production of premium red wines. 
The estate has won for her  wines  important international recognition from competitions where up to 14000 different wines were entered : at  DECANTER in London, CONCOURS de BRUXELLES and CATAVINUM in Spain gold, silver and bronze medals were won and the Italian Veronelli guide rated the wines from 89 to 93 Parker points in its 2013 edition. 
The winery (Cantina) has been erected on the site of the original barn on two levels .
The lower level is partially built into the hillside and contains barrel aging ,lab, finished product storage and an office/logistics room. 
On the second floor is the fermentation area with 4 temperature controlled wooden fermentation vats and  grape destemming and crushing machinery. 
Stainless steel blendtanks complement the equipment. 
The winery is made to produce ca. 9000Bottles of premium red wines per year from the 4 main grape varieties Sangiovese, Merlot, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon grown on 2ha of land next to the winery. 
The vineyard has been newly planted in 2001 and has ca.9000 vines .
The rows are facing straight south on a hillside next to the winery and the main house. 
In addition an olive grove has been planted on  ca 3ha mainly north facing land with about 950 olive trees of the typical Tuscan mountain varieties Frantoio, Pentolino and Leccino. 
The yield varies from year to year, but exceeds in good years significantly  1000 kg of premium extra vergine olive oil (IGP certified). 
The olive grove planted in 2000 provides also for an attractive landscaping feature. 
The property is supplied with drinking water through a waterline from the City of Volterra. 
A three cubic meter tank storage system with an autoclave assures continuity of supply even during very hot summer days. 
There are also 3 additional water systems used for cleaning, irrigation and pool makeup water: (1)two 10cbm cisternas collect rainwater from the roofs,(2)a 60m deep Artesian well supplies the swimming pool,(3)an 8m deep natural rain water  drainage system supplies the  pond and the grape processing area. 
The electrical power is supplied by ENEL company thru a 15KVA 3-phase 380V supply line  that can handle the peak demands of the winery .
In addition a 10 KW peak Photovoltaic Solar Panel installation produces about 14000kwatthours per year that are sold back to Enel at subsidized feed in rates on a 20yr contract. 
The income from this electricity sale covers about 70% of the annual electricity cost of the estate. 
The heating systems consist of a combination of liquid gas, solar thermal energy and wood burning fireplaces. 

A 35 Kwatt peak Buderus solar panel system provides hot water for the main house, heats the pool in between season and supports about 25% of the heating need of  the central heating system for the main house . 

The communication systems consist of two fixed land lines (Telecom) and a high speed internet connection provided by a radio bridge (Elettropiccoli). Several mobile telephone providers can be received in the area. International and local Italian  TV stations are received thru satellite HD TV transmitters 

The nearest shopping areas are in Volterra where two good Supermarkets are at  a 20’ drive away and in Poggibonsi, a 30’ drive ,where there are several larger Supermarkets and numerous specialized shops selling everything from building materials to electronics.  

The estate is about 75km away from both the Pisa and Florence airports that can be reached by car in about 70 minutes. Both airports have multiple daily flight connections to many  major European Cities.