The Project
Another reason that made me confident was the support of such a famous and important oenologist, that's why I was able to concentrate my efforts on working in the vineyards, on extreme harvests, a near-maniacal quality selection of the fruit, and on experimenting with old fashioned winemaking methods.
The first thing we did was to begin identifying the grape varieties that merited recovery and propagation using small-scale harvesting and micro-vinifications. In my vineyards most of the operations are performed by hand, following organics and biodynamics techniques and meticulously respecting the phases of the moon.
One of the most important factor for the success of the project is my continuous presence in the vineyard, monitoring constantly the progress of the vines growth cycle.
After eleven months of hard work, in just 12-15 days, with fingers crossed that the good weather holds, we must carry out the quality-selection harvests and bring only the best clusters in the cellar for vinification.
After the harvest I can relax a bit, the first challenge has been met. The challenge does continue, though, but now in the cellar, to make sure that the quality of the grapes is preserved, a lesson from my mentor,
Dr. Tachis.
He always said that it is not enough to make a good wine; that wine must be exclusive and the true expression of the terroir.
One evening, almost twenty years ago, I was on the farm patio together with a renowned wine producer.
We were chatting about grapes and growing areas, enjoying our view of the old family vineyard.
All of a sudden, the idea took shape in my mind.
Why not bring back to full life those venerable vineyards, grown in that rocky red soil (locally known as galestro and galestrino), freed from the forest more that 100 years ago?
My father, Dolfi Oliviero, was a merchant and he liked challenges, while my mother, Bendinelli Giovanna, came from a family of winegrowers and residents in the municipality of Lari.
My grandfather, Bendinelli Fornarino, was a relative of Don Giuseppe Bendinelli, parish priest of Perignano, Lari. Don Giuseppe had a real passion for wine and viticulture and he taught my grandfather the secrets and technologies already experimented in the past to produce high quality wines.
For some time, and in various contexts, I had known
Dr. Giacomo Tachis. After talking to him about my idea, being fascinated by his immense knowledge, I took his advice to heart and decided to keep doing what my family had done for centuries: the winemaker.
I was able to start my project without problems, being a winemaker for genealogy and meanwhile helped by the suggestions of Dr. Giacomo Tachis, the most famous Italian oenologist and the one who helped write the history of wine in Italy and abroad.
Three wines emerge from the past
