T he NostraVita estate is situated in an area of prime significance in Italian viticulture, between the historic town of Montalcino and the ancient Abbey of Sant’Antimo. It is named after the property that Annibale Parisi and his wife Elena acquired in 1970 : a gentle wooded hill that evoked for them a promising future and that they decided to call: NostraVita (‘Our Life’).
A special energy seemed to emanate from a centuries old oak-tree with a splendid two-pronged trunk. Near to this guarding presence the foundations of their new dwelling were laid. While their three daughters grew up, Annibale cultivated his passion for this place through a series of varying activities linked to art, nature and local history.
In 2000, Annibale and Elena decided to add a new dimension to their property and planted two hectares of vineyard on their hill, at an altitude of 450 metres, in a place with a perfect microclimate and soil for growing Sangiovese grapes, and producing Brunello di Montalcino DOCG and Rosso di Montalcino DOC.
All the work on the vineyard including the harvesting is done by hand jointly by the whole family. Giuditta, the graphic artist and Carlotta, the illustrator, worked together on creating the logo and the graphics for the estate and the wines. The label and the particular packaging of the NostraVita Brunello are the fruit of the family's collective creativity. The desire to convey the fact that every single bottle is special and has its own particular story, led Annibale, Elena, Giuditta, Valentina and Carlotta to create a unique appearance for each bottle.
Every single label is painted by hand: involving a personal rendering of the Nostra Vita logo for each bottle. Nothing at Nostra Vita is a result of mass production. Every passage from the vineyard to the bottle is personally and lovingly taken care of.
The first harvest took place in 2004 and gave birth to the Rosso di Montalcino DOC.
The first Brunello di Montalcino DOCG was released in 2011.
