Le Boncie

Castelnuovo Berardenga. Fraction of San Felice. Siena. Deep south of the Chianti Classico.

Here Giovanna Morganti has led a handful of hectares (3.5 ha) jealously removed from the industrial enology road since the late 1990s. It is her father Enzo, an oenologist in the 50s and 60s, who understands the potential of Sangiovese and makes it become and known as a quality product, rejuvenating it from a popular image and helping to give it the right dignity. Over time the years of mass and industrial wine arrive and the Chianti Classico becomes unrecognizable. In the 1980s her father left her a small farm with olive groves, called Le Boncie. Here Giovanna Morganti plants some historical varieties of the Tuscan tradition harvested from old vineyards: Sangiovese, but also Ciliegiolo, Colorino, Foglia Tonda, Mammolo and Prugnolo. The soils have a mix of silt (which gives the Sangiovese finesse) and clay with high active limestone (gives acidity). Le Boncie becomes a garrison of resistance, against the wine industry and against an idea of ​​land exploitation far from true viticulture. They plant high density vineyards (7000 vines / hectare) and sapling, thus returning to a farming system widespread in the past and abandoned due to the difficulty of management, but considered among the few forms that allow greater health of the wood with consequent longevity of the vineyard and greater absorption of light. This is followed by a non-intervention work in the field and in the cellar under the banner of natural agriculture inspired by the principles of biodynamics. In the cellar the vinification is very traditional with spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts to treasure the wealth and life in the vineyard, carried out in small open vats, without temperature control and with not very long macerations.

Giovanna's wines make authenticity a flag and are the result of a real act of love for the native territory, in an attempt to protect its integrity; Giovanna, who was one of the first producers to make her way into the world of natural wines, for several years has also renounced to claim the Chianti Classico DOCG for her wines, classified simply Toscana IGT and currently produces "" Le Trame "" and the "" 5 "". "" Le Trame "" is an intriguing and very graceful expression of a grape like Sangiovese. Aged in oak, it boasts, right from the start, a decisive complexity of aromas, all in constant evolution; it is difficult to remove the nose from the glass, as it is not to renew the sip.

The "" 5 "", on the other hand, was originally sold only in the cellar and produced exclusively from the fruit of the youngest vines. Furthermore, initially there were five varieties selected for its creation (Sangiovese, Colorino, Mammolo, Round Leaf and Ciliegiolo) while today, this is no longer necessarily the case. Less structured than "" Le Trame "", it is certainly no less noble, marked as it is by the native terroir.