New Arrivals from Stefano Amerighi

It was in 2002 that Stefano, fuelled by love for the wines of the Rhone and a desire to apply experience in biodynamic practices, purchased 8 hectares of land in Cortona after an in-depth geological study deemed the area, with a cru in the centre as the best suited in the region for Syrah vines.

Connections with celebrated producers in the Rhone Valley allowed Stefano to acquire selections from some of the top vineyards in the region, a contributing factor in the level of wines leaving the domaine today.

In the vineyards, Stefano is a strict follower of the principles of Rudolf Steiner and Masanobu Fukuoka. To say that Stefano is obsessive about low-impact farming would be an understatement. The vines are co-planted with 200 different heirloom varieties of fruit trees, heritage grains, olive trees, cattle, pigs, geese and hens. At harvest time, meticulous selections are made, with only the best grapes, at full maturity, harvested to be vinified as individual parcels.

In the cellar, Stefano selects the finest of the harvest to be vinified; the best of this is pressed by foot, and the rest is vinified whole cluster. All fermentation takes place in cement tanks without any method of control; nothing is added, and the temperature is ambient. Once fermentation is completed, the individual tanks are manually transferred to a combination of oak, cement and amphora, where they rest for 24 months. The final stage of selection is made at bottling. Only the best wines will be bottled under the domaine’s name when the prospective blends are made.

Today, Stefano continues to push the level of grand Syrah’s produced outside of the Rhone, with the future seeing the complete removal of any oak influence and the introduction of extraordinary, high-altitude parcels. Stefano continues to spread his wings as a founding member of the collective Halara, working alongside Nino Barraco and others. He produces a wild fermented beer and each year works on a tiny production of Pecorino from an ancient vineyard in Marche. He continues to nurture the relationships he built in the Rhone and will soon have a monograph published on his studies on the region.

After quite the wait, the 2018 vintage is with us now. Small quantities are available in both 75cl and Magnum while stocks last.