For decades the Fronti family has specialized in vineyard development and management for famous Tuscan wineries. The family also owned small vineyard plots in the Chianti Classico area.  Some bulk wine was produced, but it wasn’t until Angela Fronti graduated from Enology school and convinced her father and uncle that they needed their own label that Istine was born. Their first wine was the 2009 Chianti Classico, of which less than 250 cases were made with fruit from the eponymous Istine vineyard. 

Istine only works with autochthonous varieties - today’s wines are 100% Sangiovese but they also have Cannaiolo and Malvasia Nera vines. Always working naturally, Istine has been certified organic since 2016. The wines are aged the old-fashioned way, in large 20hl botti grandi of neutral oak, after a prolonged skin maceration that can last as long as six weeks!  Production is small - only about 60-70,000 bottles and the family does not envision expanding much. Their 26 hectares of galestro (rocky schist) and alberese (sandstone) are some of the highest-elevation vineyards around: some 400-600 meters above sea level, which exactly suits their pure, linear aesthetic.

From the 2012 vintage, Angela began a project of separate vinification of Sangiovese depending on the vineyard of origin. Now, in addition to the Istine Chianti Classico, they make three different 'crus' of Chianti Classico coming from three distinct vineyard sites.  Each of the cru wines is vinified the same way in order for the distinct characteristics of each terroir to shine through. The single-vineyard project is central to Istine’s identity and serves to distinguish them among their peers.