Wine

Winemakers since 1316 - Organic since 2004

Since at least 1316 CE – and very likely for hundreds of years prior – grapes have been grown and wine has been made here on the hillsides of La Torre alle Tolfe. Since 2004, our vineyards have been certified organic, and in 2023 we received Diversity Ark certification. We are also proud members of FIVI and VinNatur.

Our regenerative farming and low-intervention winemaking philosophies are directly inspired by La Torre alle Tolfe’s rich 700-year winemaking tradition, a fascination with the unique character of local Tuscan grape varieties in our distinctive marine soils, and a desire to build the resilience of our land and ecosystem in the face of climate change.

OUR ANCIENT MARINE TERROIR

Although today La Torre alle Tolfe is over 60km from the coast, the land of La Torre alle Tolfe was once an ancient beach – between 3-5 million years ago, during the Pliocene epoch. This ancient coastline still shapes our terroir today; our sandy soils are rich in oyster fossils, other marine fossils, and rounded, wave-beaten pebbles.

This soil composition combined with our hilltop position (330m above sea level) contributes to well-draining soil and a distinctive salinity and freshness in our wines, but can be a farming challenge during the height of the summer dry season or the heaviest rains of the winter. It is out of care for this soil and the desire for the long-term health of our land that we have chosen to invest in regenerative farming strategies.

Discover our Wines

Explore our historic tower, tunnels, terroir, and cellar – join us for a Historical Tour and Wine Tasting or pop by our farm shop to try our wines.

From the Soil, Up

When Mania returned to Chianti to manage her family’s property in 2015, she discovered that the organic approach that had been implemented since 2004 was simply not enough to ensure the long-term health of the greater ecosystem – for many years, though through well-intentioned practices, the soil had been drained of precious nutrients, groundcover, and microbiology. As such, the land was suffering in the summer from drought and in the winter from rain-driven erosion.

Necessity – the need to save our soil – sparked our exploration of a more holistic approach to farming, which led us naturally to regenerative practices. In regenerative agriculture, the primary goal is to rehabilitate depleted soils, contributing more nutrients, structure, and microbiology than we extract through farming.

Cultivating Biodiversity

In 2017, we enlisted the help of agronomer Stefano Amadeo to begin an annual analysis of our soils as well as the plant, animal, and insect biodiversity in the vineyards. Through this project, we have received Diversity Ark certification in 2023 and are increasingly managing the vineyards as ecosystems – building the organic matter and structure of our soils and enhancing the diversity of our vineyards’ native plants, animals, insects, and microbial life. The tools we use to promote biodiversity from the ground up include: targeted use of organic manure, grass cover, and green manures (such as nitrogen fixing plants) to ensure ideal growth conditions for our vines and grapes.

In 2023, our team welcomed Sascha Osterle to help expand our regenerative agriculture projects in both the vineyards and olive groves. Since then, we have introduced practices such as the culture and application of active indigenous microbes, homemade compost and compost teas, planting diversified cover crops, and enabling multi-species rational grazing amongst the vines.

This deep dive into the health of our soil and ecosystem naturally led to an interest in the microbiological diversity of our vineyards, which in turn led us to return to the traditional practice of 100% spontaneous fermentation for our wines in 2018.