Az. Agr. Toscani

Toscana

Casale Marittimo

In the 1960s, Oliviero Toscani settled in the hills of the tiny hamlet of Casale Marittimo in coastal Tuscany, a little north of Bolgheri. He built a house and established a farm, planting 4,000 olive trees and began breeding Appaloosa horses, Angus cattle, Cinta Senese pigs and homing pigeons. A vineyard was also established across 12 hectares in an amphitheatre at 350 metres elevation with stunning views of the Tirreno Sea.

Oliviero’s son, Rocco, is a professional photographer, but he calls the family farm a place where no-one wants to leave and always yearns to return to. “I’ve learnt the country lifestyle, its cycles, rhythms as well as its strengths and weaknesses. I’ve learnt how to recognise animals, every piece of land and every plant individually,” he says.

That lure led Rocco back to the family property in 2014, recognising that the land was his life. Today, working with agronomist Stefano Bartolomei, the property is managed organically with care for the environment and sustainability key.

“I’ve managed to change the cultivation method of the vineyard from a traditional one to the organic wine production by bringing back useful bugs instead of using chemical methods,” Rocco says.

Winemakers Attilio Pagli and Valentino Ciarla work with Rocco to bring his vision for the wines to life. “Low intervention wines with very little use of sulphites. All this makes this project extremely hard but very fascinating. My goal is to optimise the strengths of the vineyard and its terroir by producing wines that had never been experimented before in this area …that reflect the features of their own grapes from their crisp freshness to their fascinating force.”