How An Obsession With Wine Leads To Innovation Using Ancient Grapes In This Part Of Tuscany

Forbes

28-03-2025

The San Felice vineyard
Borgo San Felice
This past fall when the Montalcino province of Tuscany was hit by heavy rains and flooding, the agricultural area risked its most important, lucrative and storied product: it's grape vines.
Climate change's impact on wine has become a more frequent phenomenon, preying on grapevines. The violent changes in weather patterns and more frequent catastrophic events like unseasonal frosts, drought, hail, and fire all pose a threat to the existence of small growers and producers.
And then there is another element, sales are down for wine, perhaps because of the new sober curious movement, or perhaps because a new generation of possible drinkers just have not soaked in just all the layers of wine. Perhaps, it is the earthy beauty and history of wine that has not been properly told to transfer just how significant wine really is. Imbibing, an ancient ritual that has been loved for centuries tells a story not only about people but of the land where those grapes come from.
Since the medieval era, Chianti has been produced in the Tuscan hills. The original recipe was created by Bettino Ricasoli, the then Grand Duke of Tuscany. Remembered as a real Renaissance man, a political leader known for being the country's second prime minister and a lover of alchemy. But after withdrawing from politics, he retired back to his family's vineyards around the Castello di Brolio, between Siena and Arezzo. It was during this new phase, he became obsessed with creating a wine with universal appeal developing the original formula for Chianti.
His original concoction championed the use of Tuscany's native grape varieties, a blend that was composed mostly of Sangiovese, Canaiolo, and a touch of Malvasia Bianca. The exact formula he created then is not known, but this formula created the groundwork for the version of Chianti Classico synonymous with this mystical land.
Borgo San Felice
Borgo San Felice
That is the same philosophy that embodies the sense of experimentation and drive to uphold the terroir at the San Felice estate conceived and protected by oenologist Leonardo Bellaccini. The intention of the research done at San Felice is, 'at its core, to enhance the value of Sangiovese,' explains Bellaccini. The painstaking work has also been supported by the universities of Pisa and Florence leading to the rediscovery of native grapes.
Among the groves, Bellaccini explains, is where he too grew up, nourished by the same elements as the sangiovese grapes, its all quite romantic really. There is a sense of pride and wonder at his own story of how he began his career years ago before it was as glamorous, lucrative, and exciting as it has become known in the world of wine afficionados. At the time, it was seen as agrarian work more than artistry.
'You know, quality is born in the vineyard. But even before that, it is born in the mind of an entrepreneur. If an entrepreneur doesn't think of the long term, you can't even enter the luxury wine sector.' It is the quiet work, the humble work of the land, the pruning, and the protection of these plants year after year that creates a sip in a glass that can move you, and bring you somewhere.
To think how crowded the wine and spirit space has become also means that knowing the story of a wine producer, the ethics they uphold is even more paramount in choosing to purchase a bottle.
'You have to be obsessed with wine and you have to also believe in it. If you want to enter this environment and create something unusual, you have to do something that is a step ahead of others and think outside of the box,' Bellaccini says.
Part of the estates' pride is the fact that they continue to make Vigorello, which was the first super Tuscan in the world. A super Tuscan is a term coined in the 70s and 80s to define a red wine from Tuscany that is not bound by the restrains of indigenous Italian grape varieties alone but rather embraces international grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot that create a single-varietal.
In order to maintain this identity rooted in honoring the native grapes and the longevity of the land. The grapes are vinified using unique methods that respect the type of grape and final flavor Bellaccini is trying to achieve. Using the native varieties and harkening historic flavors is an exciting process to capture the flavor of this land.
The sorting process is painstaking, grape by grape is hand-selected based on color. Even an optical sorter is used. This more precise and laborious process of first-choice grapes is used for producing fine wines, while the second-choice grapes are used for young wines.
In entering the cellar where the wine is pressed, a waft of unctuous freshly pressed grapes permeates your nose, the stone walls absorb the years of wine production. 'The musts are transferred to stainless steel tanks where vinification takes place.'
To walk through the rows and rows of vats where this alchemy begins is mystical. The scent is intoxicating. But what is more enthralling is to think how the objective Ricasoli set out to achieve has not changed, the methods though, have drastically evolved.
Besides the wine offer, a tradition literally from the roots of these lands, Borgo San Felice offers more than a hotel experience. It is literally a medieval village repurposing the rooms as rooms where guests can sleep, shops, and restaurants. A sort of 'scattered hotel' allowing guests unique and storied rooms for people to enjoy. Risotto made with chianti is one of the signature dishes you can devour here.
There is a kitchen garden with hens that supply the hotel's Michelin-starred Poggio Rosso restaurant and the less formal Osteria del Grigio that draws locals for aperitivo and al fresco dining under grape leaves. But what is even more beautiful, is that local differently abled men and women take part in the harvesting and maintenance of this garden.
'We want to be a place that is not only a destination for foreigners, but also a place for the locals to be part of maintaining this unique identity in the Tuscan hills.'