Italy

San Gimignano, Toscana The Logi brothers began the winery Il Colombaio di Santa Chiara in 2002, inspired and supported by their father Mario, who began working the vines on the hills of Siena in the 1950’s as a young boy. “Colombaio” means dovecote, and the name, along with the label design, pay homage to a...Continue reading→

Radda in Chianti, Toscana Thirty years ago, world-traveler and one-eyed dreamer Sean O’Callahan handed in his thesis at a German winemaking school, then took off on his motorcycle for an Italian vineyard adventure. He dived into Chianti and never looked back, now partnering with Karl Egger at Tenuta di Carleone. In 2012, Karl and his...Continue reading→

San Donato in Collina, Toscana Seven miles southeast of Florence, the magnificent structure at Torre a Cona has been destroyed and rebuilt many times since 1066, when it was known as Cuona Castle. In 1750, a sumptuous villa was crafted there by the Marquis Rinuccini. During World War II, the Germans took the property as...Continue reading→

Palaia, Val d'Era, Toscana The vines of Sangervasio know today’s sea from Thyrrenian breezes as well as they know the ancient oceans through their roots in the fossil-laden soils. The Tommaisini family have owned their estate since 1960, and they started their label in 1994. Focused on local Tuscan grape varieties, their 22 hectares (54...Continue reading→

Terricciola, Toscana In the nineties, when Tuscan winemakers were still pulling up “local blending grapes” to plant the so-called international varieties beloved by the Super Tuscan movement, the Cantoni family discovered a property that was full of precious old vines, including a vineyard that was planted in 1895. They brought in Sangiovese expert Professor Bandinelli,...Continue reading→

Montalcino, Toscana Albatreti is a relatively new Brunello label, first released in 2008 by Gaetano Salvioni. Cousin to Guilio Salvioni of La Cerbaiola, Gaetano Salvinoni trained as a fine artist in Florence and returned home to Montalcino, where he opened a small electronics shop. Working the small vineyards owned by his mother and father had...Continue reading→

Montepulciano, Toscana In 2015, the young Eduardo Vannutelli started restoring his family's property, bringing the old abandoned vineyards back to health. The Sangiovese Prugnolo Gentile clone, grown on clay and red earth, is showing a fascinating, elegant and balanced Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, that is truly contemporary but with respect to tradition and culture of...Continue reading→

Gradoli, Lazio In Gradoli comune on Lake Bolsena, the largest volcanic crater-lake in Europe, Georgea Marini and her husband Alessandro produce organic wine from local varieties on a farm of less than 2 hectares. Their skin-macerated wine made from Procanico--a high quality biotype of Trebbiano Toscano--is a stunner, with deep, amber color and evocative, savory...Continue reading→

Staffolo, Castelli di Jesi, Marche Riccardo Baldi was quite young when he devoted himself to his family’s old vineyards, which they had previously farmed to make wine for their own consumption. He introduced biodynamic methods, working with indigenous yeast, aging in concrete tanks, and vinifying each vineyard area separately to discover the secrets of each...Continue reading→

Colline Teramane, Abruzzo Terraviva Winey was born in the late 1970’s in Colline Teramane appellation of Abruzzo. The vineyards, 22 hectares (54 acres) in Tortoreto, are framed by the Grand Sasso at one end and the Adriatic Sea at the other. Arranged like an amphitheater facing the sea, the vineyards are kissed by a climate...Continue reading→

Abruzzo This Artigiano wine comes from a little group of farmers working in the mountainous, rocky zone between the Sangro river and Terre di Chieti. The base of clay offers excellent water retention in this dry climate, and stony primary rocks lend the wine its refreshing minerality. These independent small farmers partner with Artisanal Cellars...Continue reading→

Guardia Sanframondi, Sannio, Campania Legend has it that witches from the village of Benevento gather around their smoking cauldron under a walnut tree on the banks of the river Calore. Thus the estate’s name,Terre Stregate: “haunted land.” Young Filomena Iacobucci and her brother Carlo, together with their parents, have 1000-year-old traditions from their region at...Continue reading→