Once upon a time there was a Count who lived in his castle in Bolgheri, a place famous for the "tall and frank" cypresses mentioned in the school books. It is not the beginning of a fairy tale but of the story that tells of a man of noble birth heir to that Ugolino celebrated by Dante in the Comedy, and of a peasant family, up to a wine that bears a famous label in Worldwide. The story is that of Count Della Gherardesca and Stefano Billi's family, who after the agrarian reform conquered a handkerchief of that land where he had sweated at the time of sharecropping. The wine is the one produced in the part of Tuscany celebrated by the poet Carducci, where the hills form a natural amphitheater that protects the vineyards from the rain, while the wind, together with the sea air, brings the scent of helichrysum and rosemary which today are the 'stamp' of the nectar of the gods that is produced in these parts.
For four generations working on the land, Stefano Billi together with his wife Silvia dedicate themselves to the Fornacelle property in Castagneto Carducci, producing Bolgheri doc in the vineyards of Zizzolo and Guarda Boschi that the great-grandfather Giulio Bastioni, sharecropper of the Della Gherardesca counts already worked in the 800th century, until he had the opportunity to redeem one by refusing the proposal to have a small house by the sea instead.
Stefano's great-grandfather was right to look today at what happened in those parts with the success achieved by the Marquis Incisa della Rocchetta, with his noble cru Sassicaia. But that's another story. It was a good choice that of the great-grandfather who later led the various generations to expand the property up to a total of 15 hectares, 10 of which are vineyards, and then to abandon the Sangiovese, sacred to every Tuscan winemaker, to plant the international vines of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. And give life to Fornacelle, where once upon a time there were kilns, Bolgheri, considered one of the most original and innovative Docs in the already rich Tuscan landscape.
Then came the whites with Vermentino, Sauvignon blanc and Sémillon, vines that in these parts enjoy the sea air and cheerfully fill the glasses on a summer day. The Fornacelle company, always attentive to its history, also produces a raisin wine, with a label dedicated to Stefano's father, Vincenzo, made thanks to the late harvest of Fiano grapes, a vine rarely used in these parts but experimented with good results a little further on with crops in the Grosseto area. Stefano and Silvia, on the other hand, give their very young daughter Erminia the label of a pure Merlot which gives a few bottles of great enjoyment.
The Bolgheri Classica range of Fornacelle (about 45 bottles a year produced by the company) essentially concerns 3 labels (with prices in the cellar ranging from about 9 euros for Vermentino to 12 for Semillon and 13 euros for a red Zizzolo):
– Look at Boschi Doc Superiore, which takes its name from a vineyard formerly owned by the Della Gherardesca Counts, 60% Cabernet and 40% Merlot, vinified alone for each single grape in open French oak barriques, with notes of small berries forest and hints of cinnamon.
– Zizzolo Rosso Bolgheri Doc, a blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, fruity and vegetal, harmonious in tannins and well structured.
– Zizzolo Bianco Bolgheri Doc, with 85% Vermentino and 15% other white grape varieties which develops pleasant aromas of citrus and exotic fruits, fresh and fruity on the palate.
Absolutely to be tasted in the cellar and on the table Zizzolo, Bolgheri superiore sheet 38 (from the name of the cadastral particle of the vineyard) 2015. Cabernet franc in purity, Zizzolo
(dialectal name of the jujube that grows spontaneously in the Mediterranean basin) is a wine that is appreciated for its elegance and complexity. It accompanies a simple plate of beans or a large plate of red meats.
The company organizes visits to the vineyard and cellar with tastings.
Fornacelle farm
Loc. Fornacelle "232/A 57022 Castagneto Carducci (LI)
