Behind the vine

Maria Sole Giannelli - Ficomontanino - Chiusi, Tuscany, Italy

When do you think you fell in love with wine, enough to make a career of it?

Although I was born in a family of wine producers it was only until I moved to Piedmont, where I studied at Slow Food’s University of Culinary Arts in Pollenzo, that I really fell in love with wine. When I finished my studies and I came back to my family winery in Tuscany, I had developed the passion and determination that are fundamental for this job. I started transferring a message into the wines through my rural gestures. Inspired by Fukuoka and Steiner, yet also keeping the virtuous classic tradition in mind, I began building an agricultural system where the vines live in the natural flora, together with other crops and animals.

What story does your wine tell?

My winery is located in Chiusi, in the province of Siena/southern Tuscany, at the border between Lazio and Umbria. Tuscany inspires strength, Umbria the purity of water and Lazio the sense of depth, and as these geosensorial messages guide me I try transferring them into our wines.

I’m very lucky to have vines that are surrounded by woods, hills, olive groves and cultivated fields that interact and act as a unique organism. Together with the people and the animals that inhabit it.

The first unique feature of this place, compared to other typical Tuscan lands, is the high presence of sand in our soil. A lot of silica, a lot of light received by the surrounding vegetation: the same light I find in our grapes. In order to keep and transmit this light into the wines I work with healthy bunches in the cellar, coming from plants that are farmed naturally, respecting their character with little intervention. I follow the lunar calendar, I watch the winds and the humidity, and this allows me to employ natural products in use in Homeopathy and in Biodynamics. Clearly I don’t use chemicals. I want to inherit and pass down the tradition of this borderland and besides Sangiovese I grow other varieties that are less known like Verdello, Ciliegiolo, Gamay from Trasimeno, all varietals have found a home in this area for centuries.

What misconceptions about wine do you think people should forget?

I firmly believe that “best wines” in the absolute sense don’t exist, there’s only the best way to mirror the terroir and the people that make the wine. So I think that thinking in terms of “best wine” isn’t right and people should definitely forget that!

What great things about wine do you think people should remember?

When approaching wine I think one must imagine what is behind the bottle, be curious and find out who are the people behind it and what story the place has to tell, as its the best way to understand what the winemaker was trying to transmit through the wine. People should always remember to discover the people and land that’s behind a wine.

What is a piece of advice you would give to a woman interested in breaking into the wine world?

My advice is to have an incredible amount of passion, an infinite love for wine - which is the only thing that keeps you motivated to study - stay committed and work hard. You should never think about wine as a business driven decision. To the contrary, once you’re in the wine world, it becomes all embracing, in your everyday routine, in your relationships and friendships, where you decide to travel to. You must develop a true devotion to wine and without passion it’s hard to achieve this.

Where can women find your wine?

You can email me directly.

Who is a women in wine you think everyone should know about?

Elisabetta Foradori has been an incredible source of inspiration and I admire her work in terms of preserving the land’s traditions and the environment. I also have great respect for my neighbors Dora and Patrizia of Sanguineto in Montepulciano, for their courage and fierce determination, they rock! Another great example of a young woman that has been extremely successful and capable is Arianna Occhipinti.