The Marchese de’ Frescobaldi, prominent Florentine noblemen since the 13th century, have turned to perhaps the most obvious source of new money for help in maintaining their recent fine wine investments.
The Geneva-based SPI Group, Russian vodka giants responsible for such brands as Stolichnaya and Moscovskaya, have been brought in to a new company Tenute di Toscana formed to provide financial management for Frescobaldi’s Brunello di Montalcino estate CastelGiocondo, Luce the brand developed via a joint venture with the Robert Mondavi winery in California and Ornellaia, the flagship Bolgheri estate which Frescobaldi managed to hang on to...