Podere della Civettaja
Podere della Civettaja is the concrete realization of the waking dream - considered by many more a madness - of Vincenzo Tommasi: to bring to life in Tuscany, in the valleys of the upper Casentino, expressions of Pinot Nero in full French style. A challenge launched by Vincenzo in 2005 and completed in 2010 with the foundation of the Association of Pinot Nero Producers of the Tuscan Apennines, of which he - and who else? - is the President.
In the Casentino valley, an area of breathtaking landscape beauty, north of Arezzo almost on the border with Romagna and close to the Casentino Forests National Park, it had never been remotely thought that viticulture could be practiced. It took Vincenzo Tommasi to change everyone's mind. An expert agronomic consultant by profession, he received the illumination on the way back from Burgundy. Pinot Nero stole his heart, the separation from those wines so profoundly elegant and simultaneously austere saddened him to the point of deciding to produce them himself, better if close to home. He began with the study of the morphological composition of the soils of the Arezzo area: they were clayey, calcareous, rich in skeleton in the subsoil, ready to welcome that grape variety so grumpy in the vineyard, but so exciting in the glass. The perennial fresh breezes coming from the ridges of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, the altitude reaching 500 meters above sea level and the unique microclimate generated by the proximity of the source of the Arno river, would have welcomed the Burgundy cuttings impeccably, making them feel at ease, like at home.
He was saddened to the point of deciding to produce them himself, better if close to home. He began with the study of the morphological composition of the soils of the Arezzo area: they were clayey, calcareous, rich in skeleton in the subsoil, ready to welcome that grape variety so grumpy in the vineyard, but so exciting in the glass. The perennial fresh breezes coming from the ridges of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, the altitude reaching 500 meters above sea level and the unique microclimate generated by the proximity of the source of the Arno river, would have welcomed the Burgundy cuttings impeccably, making them feel at ease, like at home.
At Podere della Civettaja, we love to take risks. Vincenzo Tommasi has started the current 3 hectares of vineyard embracing the dictates of organic farming, committing to vinify each parcel individually and then, only later, to assemble them. He then set to work to inaugurate in the cellar a practice as artisanal as possible: manual selection of the bunches, spontaneous fermentation in open wooden vats, clarification only through decantation in cement and manual bottling.manual. The Pinot Nero of Podere della Civettaja is much more than just a wine, it is the liquid personification of Vincenzo Tommasi and his thirst for Burgundy.
Podere della Civettaja is the concrete realization of the waking dream - considered by many more a madness - of Vincenzo Tommasi: to bring to life in Tuscany, in the valleys of the upper Casentino, expressions of Pinot Nero in full French style. A challenge launched by Vincenzo in 2005 and completed in 2010 with the foundation of the Association of Pinot Nero Producers of the Tuscan Apennines, of which he - and who else? - is the President.
In the Casentino valley, an area of breathtaking landscape beauty, north of Arezzo almost on the border with Romagna and close to the Casentino Forests National Park, it had never been remotely thought that viticulture could be practiced. It took Vincenzo Tommasi to change everyone's mind. An expert agronomic consultant by profession, he received the illumination on the way back from Burgundy. Pinot Nero stole his heart, the separation from those wines so profoundly elegant and simultaneously austere saddened him to the point of deciding to produce them himself, better if close to home. He began with the study of the morphological composition of the soils of the Arezzo area: they were clayey, calcareous, rich in skeleton in the subsoil, ready to welcome that grape variety so grumpy in the vineyard, but so exciting in the glass. The perennial fresh breezes coming from the ridges of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, the altitude reaching 500 meters above sea level and the unique microclimate generated by the proximity of the source of the Arno river, would have welcomed the Burgundy cuttings impeccably, making them feel at ease, like at home.
He was saddened to the point of deciding to produce them himself, better if close to home. He began with the study of the morphological composition of the soils of the Arezzo area: they were clayey, calcareous, rich in skeleton in the subsoil, ready to welcome that grape variety so grumpy in the vineyard, but so exciting in the glass. The perennial fresh breezes coming from the ridges of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, the altitude reaching 500 meters above sea level and the unique microclimate generated by the proximity of the source of the Arno river, would have welcomed the Burgundy cuttings impeccably, making them feel at ease, like at home.
At Podere della Civettaja, we love to take risks. Vincenzo Tommasi has started the current 3 hectares of vineyard embracing the dictates of organic farming, committing to vinify each parcel individually and then, only later, to assemble them. He then set to work to inaugurate in the cellar a practice as artisanal as possible: manual selection of the bunches, spontaneous fermentation in open wooden vats, clarification only through decantation in cement and manual bottling.manual. The Pinot Nero of Podere della Civettaja is much more than just a wine, it is the liquid personification of Vincenzo Tommasi and his thirst for Burgundy.
