48 hours with Geografico in Chianti

Yuri Gagarin completes the first orbit in space. The Berlin Wall is erected. The Beach Boys release Surfin’. Incidentally, the last time Spurs won the league.

1961. Quite a year.

Meanwhile, in Tuscany, 17 growers banded together to create the Geografico cooperative in an effort to preserve and promote Chianti’s good name.

Over the years, the cooperative grew both in number and stature before falling on tougher times in the mid-2010s. The Piccini family rescued it from bankruptcy in 2019 and under their stewardship has both protected and invested in this venerable local institution.

They joined our portfolio last year, so last week a troupe from North South ventured to Chiantishire by way of Pisa for a two-day deep dive into all things Geografico.

Green, eggs, and Gluttony

From Pisa airport, we set off for Castellina, taking in Tuscany’s textured landscape of vines, cypresses, umbrella pines and woodland — and acquainting ourselves with its (death-defying) winding roads. It’s a stunning patchwork of every shade of green articulated by historic hilltop towns, farmsteads, and the odd pool.

At Geografico’s newly opened cellar door and tasting room, we were welcomed by owner Mario Piccini, export manager Giacomo Panicacci, winemaker Alessandro Barabesi, and the team.

Natural raconteur Marco, former proprietor of the famous subterranean Enoteca Falorni in Greve-in-Chianti, guided us through the winery and wines either side of a hearty lunch.

From Marco, we learned that Chianti is best described as an egg. Chianti DOC is the softer, lighter egg white that surrounds the yolk of Chianti Classico – where the wines display more power and structure.

We were told that San Gimignano was the Manhattan of medieval times. The imposing towers stood out on the road from Rome to London and passing merchants would marvel at the skyline.

There was a penny-drop moment when he explained the etymological connection between Vernaccia and vernacular. It simply means ‘the local grape’. The most famous example is San Gimignano, but other Vernaccia can be found all over Italy. A local grape for local people.

And we heard of Pope Martin IV’s gluttonous demise in Dante’s Divine Comedy – his ‘bottomless brunch’ approach to eels cooked in Vernaccia di San Gimignano sending him straight to Purgatory. This is the first documented mention of Italian wine in history, apparently!

All corners of Tuscany

These stories interspersed a tasting of Geografico’s impressive range from across the Tuscan hills.

The Vernaccia di San Gimignano from Borgo alla Terra, already a firm favourite at NSW, was citrussy-fresh with a saline kick, as expected. The coastal Vermentino showed generous ripe stone fruit and a fleshy palate – Sauvignon Blanc-adjacent and a lovely food wine.

Onto the Contessa di Radda reds from Chianti. A lifted, juicy Chianti Colli Senesi was followed by the hearty, baritone Chianti Classico. Alessandro opts for short macerations to avoid green tannins and a delicate use of oak so as not to mask the fruit. The Riserva is deep and rich with a dense, savoury-driven palate and melt-in-your-mouth tannins.

We finished in Montalcino with the Corte dei Pazzi wines. The Sodero Rosso – or baby Brunello – was created to help with winemaker, who would otherwise have to wait half a decade to see any return. It’s a joyful, fruit-forward wine. Supple as you like. The meaty Saccente Brunello di Montalcino was just starting to show itself – all dark fruit, spice and tobacco-infused leather.

It made a fine pairing with our gargantuan Florentine steaks later that evening, enjoyed after a stroll through stately Siena.

Concrete belief

On the morning of day two, we set off for Gaiole, where we met the enigmatic Biaggio, one of Geografico’s longstanding growers. He showed us around his polycultural vineyard, nestled between fig and olive trees, regaling us with stories of the land – though some were, sadly, lost in translation.

We made the short hop to Geografico’s Gaiole winery. It doesn’t take long on Tuscan roads to understand why a nearby winery is a must-have, so Alessandro oversees sites in each area they work in. Here, we saw their impressive barrel room and old-school concrete tank setup. Alessandro likes working with concrete, so this existing resource is a godsend, not least because it would be prohibitively expensive to install today.

In Alessandro, Geografico has a talented and thoughtful winemaker. He was named Winemaker of the Year in 2022 by the prestigious Italian publication WineMag. It’s hard to believe he already has 20 vintages under his belt — he’s only just about to turn 38. Tuscany is his home, and he knows the land intimately, but he also draws on experience from harvests all over the world. He cites a stage with Steve Pannell in McLaren Vale as one that left a lasting impression.

Tour complete, we headed upstairs to sample some back-vintage Chiantis, Super Tuscans and Brunellos. This raised the question of standout recent vintages, to which Alessandro earmarked 2019, 2020, and 2021 as producing wines with beautiful balance and real ageing potential.

All that remained was a steep climb up to Radda in Chianti for lunch, our van passing many a struggling cyclist. We also stopped in San Gimignano to see the Tuscan Empire State for ourselves before heading to the airport. A jam-packed and illuminating couple of days, full of Tuscan history and flavour.