On our first trip to Tuscany we meet up with our old friend Roberto Rizzo in Florence. Roberto is proud of his city and region, indeed, he is an ambassador for Tuscany and brings local businesses in touch with international companies. He is Florentine to the bone and was even the captain for one of the teams of a traditional football-like game, “calcio storico”, that is being played since the Middle Ages. It takes years of waiting to be admitted to a team, let alone becoming the captain. Nonetheless, he is easy-going, modest, rather unassuming and very sincere – like the wines we like the most. Even though Roberto operates around all of Tuscany, we agree on just making the acquaintance of some quality producers around Florence during this first trip.
First we visit “Ghiott”, which is not a winery. Everyone in Florence knows them for their “ghiottini”, the house recipe for “cantucci” (dry almond biscuits), and other typical sweets, made of almonds and nuts, sultanas and/or dry figs, like amaretti and panforte.
Ghiott used to bake in the centre of Florence and the scent of baking sweetened everyone’s days. Then this family business grew and moved outside, in the Chianti mountains, along the scenic route to Siena. Excellent biscuits, especially when dunked into Vin Santo! What a treat and a must-have in any Tuscan restaurant and self-respecting home.
So, now we need to find something to dunk these new friends into. Our next stop is at the overwhelmingly beautiful Podere Casaccia, in Scandicci, a town with over 50,000 people on the outskirts of the Florence Metropolitan area.
From here we continue through the Chianti Mountains towards Lastra a Signa to meet with “Quei 2” – literally meaning “those two”. Those two are Martina and Alessandro, trained mechanical engineers and formerly senior managers in large multinational companies…
Not far from Florence, heading west, we reach the town of Montemurlo. The road climbs higher and higher up the mountainside. The view is spectacular over the Arno River Valley, which continues towards beautiful Lucca and famous Pisa.
Our last stop is in a small winery in Mamantile, a tiny hamlet part of Lastra a Signa, South of Florence. We drive along small country roads, then turn left onto a dirt track which winds its way between cypress trees, wheat fields, olive groves and vineyards. Picture book Tuscany! Beautifully peaceful.
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Winemaking
Wine and Winemaking
Wine
Wine is a product of the earth and of man. It arrives at our table from the vineyard in a bottle, passing through a vat and a barrel. To really get to know it, we must first acquaint ourselves with the vineyard and the people who grow it, draw the grapes from it and turn it into wine. To make good wine, you need love for the land, because the future of those who grow it depends on it. You need passion, and you need the right knowledge as a winemaker. These are handed down from generation to generation, taught in schools or by expert oenologists, but only good grapes can give good wine.
How many of us, at home, in a restaurant or at the supermarket, can pick up a bottle and say: I know where it comes from, I know who makes it and what is behind it?
We want to give you the opportunity to get to know the real wine, from its origins to your table. On our journey we will go to discover small producers and their lands, even before their wines. This is our aspiration: to take you with us to discover "real wines made by real people".
Wine, or rather Wines
We believe that there are two great types of the product "wine". The vast majority are wines produced on a large scale, very widespread and well known. For a consumer, the norm is to associate a product with a label. The label signifies what kind of product is inside the package - it is somehow the guarantor. If you uncork a "Mouton Cadet”, a “Blue Nun” or open a "Tavernello" tetra pack, you do so knowing what you will find, and this regardless of the year, or even the land, in which the wine was produced. One may roughly know where Mouton Cadet comes from, but honestly, does anyone have an idea where the Tavernello grapes come from? “Consistency" is what these wines offer, whether they are big or small, does not matter. (In truth, Mouton Cadet offers far more than just consistency). With regard to “consistency”, these wines resemble industrial products, such as Coca-Cola or Carlsberg – products for which the name alone reveals the qualities. It is the strength of the brand. There are also many generic products, such as pasteurised milk, of which we know what to expect. They are safe, (arguably) healthy and have a predictable taste because they are practically the same, as once they undergo pasteurisation, all those little microorganisms that create distinctive flavours fade away.
This is nothing negative. On the contrary, brands and labels greatly simplify our choices. These are industrial products, where the hand of man weighs at least as much as that of nature. They are products, where the "miracle" of transforming grapes into wine is performed with scientific and technological knowledge and the main characteristic of these products is “consistency”, so that the consumer knows what he is buying. Consistency at this level, however, does not exist in nature and hence is the affirmation of man over nature. We prefer to leave this to the great names and large retailers. In any case, you would not need to join our journey to find such wines!
The other "product" wine is produced on a small, artisanal scale. It is a product that reflects the earth, grapes, climate and wise hand of the winemaker. These wines vary from each other, from year to year, from vineyard to vineyard, while maintaining the same label. Some are produced according to the dictates of organic farming, others follow the anthroposophical philosophy of biodynamics, and others yet are made with "conventional" interventions reduced to the bare minimum. They have one thing in common that is fundamental for us: they are produced by passionate people and from grapes grown "with love". They are natural wine, where the additives are limited to a minimum and never used to create "consistency". They reflect a territory, vintage, person, not a company that identifies itself with an emblem, symbol, label… in other words, wine with soul. The wines we want to present to you are "juice of the earth" and not a sophisticated industrial product.
In principle, winemaking is a spontaneous chemical process initiated and governed by human intervention. People wait until grapes are ripe, collect them, press them, wait for the juices to ferment, decide at which moment the fermentation must be interrupted, the wine must be separated from the skins, put into large or small containers and aged… until it is ready to be bottled, sold and drunk. Each of these steps requires human intervention and each of these steps is based on human experience and knowledge. Since the last century and the progress of chemistry, human intervention is less empirical and increasingly scientific. It is so developed, that soil is analysed in labs and with the aid of drones and satellite pictures, it is established which vines to plant in exact spots. Micro sensors monitor the microclimate in the vineyards, the presence of moulds, fungi, parasites and other threats. The level of “readiness” of mature grapes is assessed with high-tech machinery. Science is widely being used to create products that meet the consumers’ palate and sell, to optimise the use of labour and machinery and allow the people who work in the vineyards and in the wine cellars, the marketing gurus, sales force and above all, the investors, to make a profitable living and a return on their investment. Wine is, after all, big business! Well, not for everyone. For many small, or very small vintners, it is passion, it is a vision, a purpose in life to make true, authentic wines. The idea of Vinland was born when we tired of the large wine productions and decided to explore the world of small wines, made “next door” by people and nature, not by industrial processes. When we first visited Paride Chiovini in Sizzano - and such visits can take hours of long conversations - after showing us around his vineyards, he told us how much he loved spending time there. “It makes me oblivious, because I’m so happy there”, he said. One day, while in his beloved vineyard, he received a call from a restaurant he supplies. They asked for an urgent delivery as they were out of stock and had a big party of guests coming. Paride went back to his cellar, loaded his car and drove off. On the road he realised that he was still wearing his dirty clothes and boots covered in soil and dust. Too late, he thought. A Jaguar was parked in front of the restaurant and a very elegant gentleman drove off in it. The restaurant manager asked with a wry smile “ Did you just see that Jaguar leave? That was Mr. A., a colleague of yours”. Paride knew that Mr. A. was one of the best known winemakers in Italy, whose family business exported many thousands of prestigious bottles globally. He was puzzled, felt embarrassed in his dirty working clothes and regretted not having shaken hands with the great man. Then, as he drove back, he realised that no, he did not want to be like Mr. A. He wanted to be just like he was: bound to the soil, happy in the vineyard. At Vinland we have wines from many passionate winemakers like Paride Chiovini, and we are happy to introduce their wines to you, and tell you something about them.
