Tenuta Di Valgiano

Italy, Tuscany

The Story

The breathtakingly beautiful Tenuta Di Valgiano is located in the North of Tuscany, 300 meters above sea level in the Colline Lucchesi appellation overlooking the city of Lucca. It has been a wine estate since the 16th century, and some of the buildings are almost as old as the estate. The farm covers 40 hectares, 16 of which are vineyards, and another 13 are home to honeybees and olive trees, which produce outstanding olive oil and honey.

The Palistorti rosso and the Tenuta Di Valgiano are made of a blend of Sangiovese, Merlot, Syrah, Ciliegiolo and Canaiolo. A bit more Merlot goes into the blend in cooler vintages, and in warmer vintages, a bit more Syrah is added. Both wines are made in the same way and aged between 12 to 15 months—the main difference between the two lies in the vine age. The vines used for Palistorti are 15 to 20 years of age, whereas the ones for Tenuta are around 35 to 40 years old. While the very limited Palistort bianco is a blend of Vermentino, Trebbiano and Malvasia; It is little wonder that most of it doesn't leave the country due to its deep complexity and exceptional quality.

Palistorti means 'crooked posts' because of really hard rocks near the surface, so the locals have taken to the habit of calling this vineyard 'Palistorti'.

Click here to read our Q&A with Laura Di Collobiano.

The People

Laura, Moreno & Saverio

Laura, Moreno and Saverio produced their first vintage in 1993. Following the teachings of Australian biodynamic pioneer Alex Podolinsky, the estate was certified organic in 1996 and biodynamic in 2002. They practice low intervention winemaking and biodynamic horn manure preparation known as "500" to keep the vines healthy. Grapes are sorted by hand before being crushed first by foot. The wines are bottled unfiltered.

Watch Laura Di Collobiano's interview with 67 Pall Mall, where she discusses how fine wine can not be made anywhere.

Listen to Laura Di Collobiano's interview on the Interpreting Wine podcast with Lawrence Francis.

Tuscany, Italy

The terroir is located between the Apennine Mountains and the Mediterranean, and cool breezes from both offer some respite from the intensity of the summer heat. The Syrah is planted on sandstone, the Merlot on limestone and the Sangiovese on a mixture of both. The combination of sandstone and calcareous soil is quite rare in the wine world, two famous examples are Figeac, in Bordeaux, where Château Cheval Blanc is located, as well as the commune of Vosne-Romanée, in Burgundy.