Today’s topic on Italian Viticulture of various kinds was very interesting to me. I choose  to wrote about a winery that farms organically and that makes interesting choices in the cellar as well using no sulfites, the first of it’s kind in Chianti, Fattoria Lavacchio. I met the owners of the winery last month at the Anteprime Toscane.  The property dates back to 1700 but the family that owns it today bought the property in 1978. They only use organic materials in the vineyards. Harvesting is done by hand and fermentation is done using natural yeasts. They are at about 450 meters above sea level on soils that are rich in marl and mainly limestone.

The wine pictures, “Puro” is 100% Sangiovese and 100% sulfite-free. A Chianti Rufina D.O.C.G.
The wine is vinified in stainless steel vats, without the addition of sulfites. According to their website, ” The sulfur as an antioxidant and antibacterial agent is replaced physically and non chemically, such as low storage temperatures, frequent checks of dissolved oxygen and appropriate filtration to keep the wine microbiologically pure.”

Tasting the wine was a lovely experience. It has the pure fruit and incredible beauty of a Chianti Rufina but it also had a lightness that I don’t always experience when drinking wines that have sulfites, meaning almost 100% of wines. A very interesting experience, I am curious to see if others follow suit. They make other sulfur free wines but I did not taste them.

I thought the wine compared favorably to other Chianti Rufina’s I tried. Surely the lifespan on this wine will be different and it didn’t have the depth that some do but it was a perfect example of what a wine can be for easy drinking and without sulfur.

This morning, the Italian Food Wine Travel group of influential bloggers are investigating Italian Viticulture.  Blogs are posted by 11 AM ET, and from 11-Noon we’ll be discussing what we learned on twitter using the hashtag #ItalianFWT. Read the invitation post here. 

• • Jill Barth of L’Occasion: “Gravner: ‘Nature As A Source Of Thought'”
  • Camilla M. Mann: “Dinner in Testosterone Land: Braised Short Ribs + 2016 Nuova Cappelletta Barbera del Monferrato” on Culinary Adventures with Camilla
  • Wendy Klik: “Brasato al Vino Rosso with Montefalco” on A Day in the Life on the Farm
  • Jeff Burrows: “Looking Beyond Biodynamic Certification at Cantina di Filippo” at Food Wine Click!
  • Lauren Walsh, The Swirling Dervish: “The Wines of Alois Lageder: Cultivating Nature as a Habitat of Life.”
  • Nicole Ruiz Hudson is Cooking to the Wine: “Arianna Occhipinti SP68 Sicilia Rosso with Creamy Eggplant and Tomato Zoodles”
  • Jennifer Gentile Martin: “The Organic Wines of Abruzzo with La Valentina” onVino Travels.
  • Susannah Gold of Avvinare: “Chianti without sulfites- the wines of Fattoria Lavacchio”
  • Katarina Andersson of Grapevine Adventures: “The World of Biodynamic Wine at #ItalianFWT”
  • Lynne Gowdy of Savor the Harvest: The Important Thing You Don’t Know About Italian Wine Labels
  • Host Gwendolyn Alley the Wine Predator: “Organic Orange Procanico paired with a Pasta Bar”