These are the 4 unknown winemakers that I recommend you to try while visiting the area of Pitigliano – Sovana and Sorano
These tufaceous areas are famous for their volcanic wines, but the areas of the Tuscan Maremma that extend from the coast to Mount Amiata actually present an enormous variety of soils that give the grapes very interesting and unexpected characteristics.
I chose these wineries and their wines because I share their spirit and projects.
In almost all cases these are small companies that are committed to promoting a different idea of wine.
I asked these winemakers to use this space to talk about themselves and their products.
Cantina della Luce:
Who are we?
First of all we are friends, then winemakers, then wine and agriculture enthusiasts. Our names are Francesco and Gabriele. We have known each other since we were kids but during university (agricultural faculty) we began to share a house and experiences and opportunities to learn about the world of wine.
One day we decided to meet for a reunion organized by Francesco. He promised a surprise, but I didn’t know it would change my life. Thus I discovered Francesco’s grandfather cellar (Maggi Albano) where wine had been made for generations, a tuff cave dug entirely by hand.
In that cellar we saw a dream and the hope we were looking for: that of becoming full-fledged winemakers. That is how we started, not like two serious winemakers, rather like two enthusiasts who don’t know exactly what they’re doing. We began to manage both the cellar and the vineyards, the first belonged to Gabriele’s family, others arrived later and are as special as the cellar. Montebuono, a small wild town with a very varied terroir ranging from volcanic soils to clayey soils, became our kingdom and the place of our dreams to make wines the way we like them.
We decided to call the cellar CANTINA DELLA LUCE (cellar of light), light is the way!
Visits and infos: +393271385981 (Gabriele)
Cantina LaScesa:
We are “LaScesa winery” and we come from Sovana.
We make our wine here, in the last strip of Tuscan Maremma before Lazio, far from everything but close to what matters: surrounded by volcanoes and tuff, bathed by the Fiora river and inebriated by the scents of the wild scrub.
An Italian/Cantonese musician, a Neapolitan winemaker, two oenologist twins and a DJ/who works in forestry from Asti are the souls that form the –LaScesa urban winery– project.
By using our different and varied skills we are able to take care of every single phase of the creation of our wines – from vineyard management to bottling. We do everything by hand and with a lot of effort, taking advantage of the precious help of friends and the inhabitants of the town.
Our wines change every year, both in taste and label. Because every year is different and everything is in motion. We take the luxury of experimenting and changing our minds.
Our volcanic wines are best consumed with friends
Visits and infos: +393341228999 (Marina)
Azienda vitivinicola Bagnolungo:
Our small company was born in 2021 on the volcanic soils of the Tuscan Maremma, a stone’s throw away from the charming city of Pitigliano.
After many years in the wine and restaurant fields around the world we chose this place to settle down. We produce wine and extra virgin olive oil following the principles of sustainability and respecting nature.
The Bagnolungo vineyard is located on a high hill surrounded by rivers and streams. Bagnolungo and La Nova on one side, Roiana on the other: they all flow into the large Fiora basin a few hundred meters away. The loose volcanic tuff of which the soil is composed favors the propagation of the roots towards the underground thermal water reserves, helping the plants to make up for dry years.
The activity carried out in the countryside is reflected into the cellar. The grapes selected at harvest begin their spontaneous fermentation thanks to the work of indigenous yeasts. The use of sulfur dioxide is extremely limited and natural decantation is preferred to filtration. We want our wines to be the full expression of the territory and the variability linked to the vintage.
Some wines only see the light in the best years, while others change every year.
The wine labels are artistic creations of relatives and friends.
Visits and infos: https://www.bagnolungo.it/ or call +393386554557 (Nina – Riccardo)
Azienda vitivinicola Scipio:
The Scipio company whose owner Yurima Rosabal Baez, Cuban, sommelier with a great passion for wine, wasborn in 2022.
This artisanal winery was born with the aim to recover and enhance the cultivation of native Pitigliano vines and grapes in the area by managing the vineyards without using treatments systemic, herbicide and chemical fertilizers. Subsequently we process the grapes in the cellar follows the same philosophy of extreme simplicity trying to maintain the final product as natural as possible.
Our first winemaking experiences began about 15 years ago in an amateur manner, in old cellars dug into the tuff, followed by oenologist friends. Despite the limited means, the wines we produced already foreshadowed the quality and vocation of our territory for wine production.
However it was the meeting with the great winemaker Gaspare Buscemi that pushed us. High quality grapes, harvested manually, the bunch is delicately placed in 20kg boxes making a rigorous selection already in the vineyard and vinified following stricts winemaking protocols which have given great results, allowing us to produce our wines.
Visits and infos: +39345 980 4089 (Yurima – Mario)
