Tuscan Travels

Considered the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, Tuscany, famed for its picture perfect beauty and iconic cities like Florence, Pisa and Sienna, is abundantly rich in history and cultural heritage. Fairytale medieval towns litter the region while the surrounding landscape is a breathtaking tapestry of vineyards, olive trees and forests connected by winding roads lined with cypress trees.

In mid-July, Trade Sales Director Simon Barratt and I spent a few days visiting our producers in Tuscany. Travelling through the jaw-droppingly beautiful countryside and rolling hills of the legendary wine regions of Chianti and Montalcino, where we were treated to fantastic visits at Barbanera, Sesti - Castello di Argiano, Riecine, Geographico, La Massa and the legendary Tenuta Tignanello.

We met Sofia Barbanera on a scorchingly hot Monday afternoon at the company’s head office where their air-con gave welcome respite from the heat. Framed by majestic and ancient olive trees the ultra smart façade of the new building backs onto their bottling plant and the original warehouse from the company’s early years. Outside a robotic lawnmower busied itself trundling around its neatly manicured lawns to the background chirrup of cicadas.

Founded in 1938 by Altero and Maria Franceschini, their grandsons Marco and Paolo Barbanera started as wine bottlers in 1978 and then diversified into producing their own wine. Since 2017 they have produced and bottled only their own wines on their high-tech fast moving bottling line using machinery like an auto-washer capable of handling up to 10,000 bottles per hour! Finished in 2017 their new winery nestles in vineyards a short drive away, boasting shiny stainless steel and refrigerated tanks that use an inbuilt pipe system to keep the grapes fresh, all fed by gravity to minimise stress on the fruit. Grapes brought to the winery have been either basket harvested by hand or machine harvested. Their portfolio is extensive, ranging from wines made exclusively in stainless steel through to structured barrique aged examples, and of those for immediate enjoyment some are made in the Appassite and Governo styles. Once finished and ready for bottling, wines see only a micro-filtration to remove yeasts/sediments while retaining maximum character and undergo stringent tests in their dedicated on-site lab to ensure the very highest quality is being constantly maintained. We tasted a fabulous range of wines in their tasting room with its far-reaching views out into the vineyards. Barbanera wines that we currently stock are:

Chianti, Duca di Saragnano 2022
Soft and flavoursome Chianti with nice weight. Red berry and cherry fruit then easy tannins on the finish. A modern, hugely approachable and very drinkable style.

Rosso di Montepulciano, Duca di Saragnano 2021
Aromatic and fruity with forest fruits and spicy notes, then juicy with plenty of red berries and black cherry fruit. Rich yet supple, with soft round tannins and a spicy finish. Balanced, very forward and hugely attractive.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Duca di Saragnano 2019
Intense in colour and displaying a broad expansive nose of black fruits, spice and whiffs of tobacco. Rich and silky fruit with morello cherries and red berries on the long finish. Well-balanced and nicely structured with elegant tannins from 18 months aging in oak barrels. Another hugely approachable wine from Barbanera.

Tuesday morning we travelled NW through the beautiful hilltop town of Montalcino to spend a fascinating half day in the company of the delightful Elisa Sesti. Her home is the stunning Sesti - Castello di Argiano estate, with its forests and micro-climate vineyards, located at the southern end of the Montalcino plateau right in the heart of Brunello country. Once a medieval hill-top fortress/village, the castle tower was built later circa 1200AD as the last in a series of watch towers, communicating with the next in line by drum and fire. Witness to the warfare of feuding Italy through the ages, today both its striking views and architecture are UNESCO protected.

The estate, reclaimed by nature, was uninhabited and seemingly impenetrably over grown when the Sesti family discovered it in the mid-1970s. Lovingly rescued and restored by Elisa’s father (renowned astronomer Giugi; hence the stars on the labels) and English mother (Sarah) they planted Sangiovese on the best sites. There’s a lovely local connection here too as Elisa’s great, great grandmother was the mayor of Shrewsbury!

It seems hard to imagine now, but back in the 70’s and 80’s Sangiovese was a little-known variety in the UK market and Brunello a mere footnote in wine guides. Long ageing in traditional large botti barrels (rather than French barriques) along with the unique cooling climate at Sesti, produces utterly divine wines of breath taking quality. We highly recommend them all, with the perfect introduction to these fabulous wines being Sesti’s delicious Grangiovese – a play on words, ‘the Great Sangiovese’.

Of 102 ha at Castello di Argiano, only nine are planted with vines, with the remaining hectares being olive groves and woodland. The unique micro climate sees gentle sea breezes funnel down through the woods and vineyards forming a natural air conditioning unit, so in contrast to the norm, Sesti’s coolest sites are their lowest vineyards enjoying longer hang times and harvests two weeks after the earlier ripening upper slopes.

They keep lots of foliage on their vines to protect the thin skinned Sangiovese grapes from strong sun and sunburn - “Sangiovese loves to suffer, so you have to look after it!”

Vineyards are fenced off to protect from deer and wild boar, which would otherwise damage vines and gorge on ripe grapes, while leaving ample crawl space immediately above ground for local populations of hares, porcupines and tortoises to move freely beneath the wires.

Tall oval barrels (botti) fit into the cellar space most efficiently and are made for Sesti by Venitian barrel-making company Garbellotto from four year seasoned oak. Sesti favour Slovenia oak for their Brunellos which suits their Sangiovese grapes and won’t touch French oak as its vanilla flavours overpowers Sangiovese’s character. Giugi is a world authority on ancient astronomy, hence the celestial designs on all their labels, along with viticultural and winemaking techniques which follow the phases of the moon. Whilst not being officially certified organic or bio dynamic, the natural, time honoured practices with minimal use of chemicals are important at Castello di Argiano. The lunar cycles affect the wine in cask, in the same way they affect the oceans’ tides, so the wines in barrel expand and contract on a monthly cycle. Wine filled auto fillers on the top of each botti exclude the air allowing automatic top up or holding overspill from each barrel.

Montalcino was the first DOCG in Italy and had the strictest and longest wine laws globally: a minimum of 4 years in botti then 1 year in bottle. Sesti still work to these timescales, although some producers use the current relaxed laws of 2 years + 1 in bottle. Sesti’s wants longer time in barrel for less wood expression and finer Brunellos, hence the large botti. At any one time they will have six vintages of Brunello in production, with their riserva spending a minimum of six years on the estate.

Sesti 'Grangiovese', Toscana, 2022
Enticingly good and wonderfully forward. Offering up charmingly supple red cherry and berry fruits, all savoury, juicy and mineral with gentle grip. Hugely expressive and desperate to buddy up with food.

Sesti Rosso, Toscana 2022
Ripe, meaty, and savoury with notes of dark red cherry. Soft, round and mouth-filling with expansive and expressive red cherry fruit. Very velvety and so delicious. Very fine gentle grip, lovely acidity and poised with a wonderful energy.

Brunello 2018
Beautifully layered elegant nose with touches of leather and maturity. Round, seamless palate, with velvety vibrant red fruits, red berries, red and morello cherries and fine chalky tannins. Sensationally perfumed bouquet develops in the glass as it stands. Going to be very long lived similar to 1998. 15 – 20yrs. Very good.

Sesti Olio di Oliva, Extra Vergine Cold Press - 50cl
And a final treat – an extraordinary olive oil that is sweet and fruity, smooth velvet yet creamy like the finest gold top, punctuated with grassy notes and a glorious peppery finished. Every kitchen should have one!

You can view all our Sesti wines and produce here.

Located in the heart of Tuscany, in the small community of Gaiole in Chianti, Riecine takes its place among the finest vineyards in all of Italy and continues to progress as a classic winery. Lana Frank took over ownership of Riecine in December 2011 from New Yorker Gary Baumann, who had acquired Riecine in 1996 from its founder, John Dunkley. Gary, assisted by then wine-maker Sean O’Callaghan, renovated and hugely developed Riecine until 2011.

Under Lana’s stewardship, the cellar was fully renovated almost tripling its winemaking area, and 12 new non-vitrified Nomblot concrete vats were added, which is where most of Riecine’s wines now start. Alessandro Campatelli has been director and winemaker since 2015, making 100% Sangiovese-based Chianti Classico (the core of Riecine's production) and in top vintages Chianti Classico Riserva; their 'Super Tuscan' wine, La Gioia; and most recently, after purchasing the Gittori vineyard in 2019, having rented and managed it for 25 years, Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna Gittori. The estate has followed organic growing principles since 2006 and spraying is kept to an absolute minimum - no herbicides or insecticides are used, and vineyard practices aim to minimise the effects of climate change while promoting native microfauna. Currently they have 14ha Sangiovese, 1ha Merlot and 1ha of white varieties under vine, with recent new plantings at higher densities to force the roots deeper for increased complexity and resilience. A move to umbrella training in some plots is a direct response to climate change as it shades the grapes and avoids sunburn, with the added bonus of reduced yields meaning an increase in quality. Soils range from predominantly rocky vineyards to sand and broken clay. We tasted their full range - the wines below are either on our list or limited availability post release.

We tasted their full range - the wines on the next page (click 'read more') are either on our list or limited availability post release.