Grape: Vernaccia
Region: San Gimignano, Tuscany, Italy
Features: Organic, Sustainable

Distributor's Notes:

"Vernaccia di San Gimignano was the first wine in Italy to be awarded the DOC status in 1966, which was then upgraded to DOCG in 1993. The parents of Franco Troiani, the present owner, moved from the Marche to Tuscany in 1959 and purchased the estate. In the 1990s a large part of the vineyards were replanted. The Vernaccia clones were collected, and still are today, from the the oldest vineyard of the property, planted in 1980. Franco now replants two or three hectares of vineyards each year. An extremely modern and partially underground cellar was built in 2001. To have modern and sophisticated equipment is particularly important for Vernaccia as this grape has a delicate nature and a very very fragile skin that breaks easily when reaching full ripeness. Fontaleoni's vineyards lie on a prevalently calcareous soil (originating from the Pliocene Epoch) at the ideal altitude of 200-250 meters above sea level. The vine training systems are guyot and cordon spur, the traditional ones of the area, vineyard density is 4,500 plants/hectare. Vineyard management is meticulous and carried out entirely by hand and chemicals are reduced to a bare minimum. This is a family run estate, Franco's son, Matteo, an agronomist, and Simona, who has a degree in languages, are part of the team. The touch of Paolo Caciorgna, who consults for Fontaleoni, is evident in the lovely wines."