Estate at Il Tunnel

An 18th-century wine estate built on medieval foundations, comprising 205 hectares including 14 hectares of organic vineyards, a manor house, a historic wine cellar and an underground stone tunnel, in Monteriggioni

REF. SIE444

Situated between Siena and the castle of Monteriggioni, in the Chianti hills at an altitude of 350 metres, Tenuta Il Tunnel boasts three hundred years of history and a secret that few properties in the world can claim: a stone tunnel built in the first half of the 20th century that runs beneath the ground, connecting the villa’s vaulted cellar, the production cellar and the staircase inside the house. This is not merely an architectural detail: it is an evocative and unique underground journey that transforms every visit into something that goes beyond a mere property.

The 18th-century manor house — built on the foundations of a medieval fortress, in perfect 18th-century style with stone decorations and cornices reminiscent of the grand country residences of the Sienese nobility — spans four levels covering approximately 800 square metres. In the basement are the vaulted cellar and the tunnel entrance; on the ground floor, the entrance foyer with staircases leading to the various levels, the living room, the study, the kitchen with pantry, and the utility rooms housing the recently installed pellet boiler. On the first floor lies the building’s showpiece: a double living room with a fireplace and an arched glass wall that opens — via a bridge-like passageway — onto the large panoramic terrace with a brick balustrade and views stretching as far as the eye can see over the hills of Siena, the villages, the woods and the isolated farmhouses dotting the landscape. Three double bedrooms and one bedroom with an en-suite bathroom complete the first floor; on the second floor, ten rooms yet to be converted into bedrooms and living areas, sufficient to transform the villa into an eight- to ten-room boutique hotel without the need for structural alterations.

The winery building, measuring approximately 650 square metres over two storeys with three large entrances on the ground floor and a panoramic roof terrace, is the operational heart of the estate: it houses steel vats, wooden barrels and the passageway leading to the villa’s cave. The 14-hectare vineyard — planted with Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, trained using the spurred cordon method at an altitude of 250–330 metres on clayey and calcareous soil — produces up to 30,000 bottles a year of Chianti Colli Senesi DOCG and Toscana IGT, with organic certification expected in 2026. The 125 hectares of woodland, 60 hectares of arable land (partly convertible to vineyards) and 1.6-hectare olive grove make up the estate’s total area of 205 hectares.

Located 40 minutes south of Florence, 5 km from local amenities, with a 300-metre unpaved access road, this estate represents an investment in a story that never ends.