Harvest in Tenuta Torciano winery
The “Vendemmia” (Italian meaning for the grape harvest) is one of the most fascinating experiences you can experience in Tuscany during the month of September. It’s a wonderful way to learn a lot about local food and wine traditions but also about local culture. Those who tried it report that the atmosphere of a functioning winery is something absolutely unique! In Tenuta Torciano you can take part in a traditional harvest in a fascinating winery and taste some excellent local wines served at lunch. If you visit Tuscany at the beginning of the harvest season you can try the ancient tradition of trampling grapes. This is an old harvest habit used until a few years ago to facilitate the fermentation of grape juice. We hope you can coincide with it!
Nothing is sadder for a farmer than watching his grapes ruin the vine. Although some wines require grapes that are aged to produce the prized vin santo or other liqueur wines, most of the harvest is destined for a normal or reserved wine to be shared with friends. Actual harvesting requires very few tools: a sharp pair of garden shears or a small knife with a hooked tip, a small and medium-sized wicker basket, some larger bins and of course large stainless steel vats.
Contrary to popular belief, the harvested grapes are no longer “trampled” – even if the image is folkloristic, the truth is that it is not very hygienic. However, the great lunch at the end of the harvest is still a very popular event! After a morning of harvesting, pressing, pouring and processing, there will certainly be an invitation to sit at a table that overflows with the colors and flavors of the season!
Our harvest experience takes place in the morning for about an hour. You will meet our local guide and enjoy an introduction to the world of vineyards before you begin! The guide will give you a lot of information about plants and vine cultivation, as well as the weather conditions of the seasons and how they affect the fruits. Then you will take the scissors and the crates and start collecting the grapes together with your guide or other wine producers.
After having collected some bunches, you will follow your guide and the tractor towards the operational areas of the cellar, where you will see all the machinery involved in the process, to understand the winemaking process in detail. From the destemming to the fermentation barrels you will learn in detail how grape juice turns into wine. Finally, you will rest in the tasting room of the property tasting some excellent wines produced by the cellar, served together with a complete lunch.
The real harvest experience starts here in Tenuta Torciano! It’s like going back to the memories of our childhood. We have always lived the harvest as a feast, where our generations gathered to celebrate this great event … and where everyone worked together. Our grandparents, our parents and we children, everyone had his task. From the collection to the transport of the grapes from the vineyards to the cellar where the grape processing began. It was like a dance! A delicious and excellent lunch was always the highlight of the day, with a nice “schiacciata” with grapes for dessert!
For more details and reservations contact our booking office at +39 3662324058 or send a message to: booking@torciano.com
Author
Luciana Cilemmi
Luciana Cilemmi, deals with Magazine, Style Director and Co-founder of Tenuta Torciano winery and Tenute Giachi wines and the innovative Viviarium Restaurant of Bottega Torciano- Tenuta Torciano & Winery is part of an international reality that is born in Italy by an initiative of Pierluigi Giachi and Luciana Cilemmi, who have worked for years in the Italian wine market , expanding throughout in the United States, managed and controlled by the american company ' Bellavini winery. Luciana Cilemmi was born in San Gimignano to a family of artists specialised in the restoration of medieval buildings. Having completed her technical studies, she now pursues the interests passed on to her by her family, like her passion for artistic objects, in particular works of art created in Tuscany between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. But she reserves her keenest enthusiasm for the historic works completed in San Gimignano between 1100 and 1300. Alongside her love of medieval history, she is fascinated in wines produced from Tuscan vineyards, which, together with saffron and wool, were the most sought-after goods traded by the wealthy noble families of San Gimignano already in medieval times. Luciana Cilemmi left San Gimignano at the age of 21 and embarked on a pilgrimage in search of knowledge and to discover the new winemaking skills and products that were then developing both in Italy and in France. In the meantime she added to her knowledge of wine by attending specialised courses and becoming a master of wine. On returning to Siena, she discovered a wonderful area near Murlo where she fell in love with the tiny, unspoilt village of Montepescini. She bought the estate of Montepescini where, based on the experience she had acquired over the years, she found a particular lie of the land, special climatic conditions and an altitude suited to the creation of great wines. With enormous enthusiasm, doggedness and considerable effort, a reclamation programme was started to renew the terrain which was then used to plant 30 hectares of specialised vines. Sangiovese is the dominant vine, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. Years of experimentation and the introduction of new winemaking techniques eventually led to the creation of Luciana di Memmi’s prestigious wines. Some years ago, Luciana Cilemmi succeeded in realising her dream of a lifetime: to return to her home town, San Gimignano. She was destined to buy the historic palace with the medieval tower, which had been owned by the prestigious Useppi family from 1200 to 1927 and had then passed to the noble and historic Chigi family of Siena. The Useppi were a powerful Sienese family who owned several castles. This beautiful medieval building has an elegant and distinctive façade full of Sienese and Pisan architectural influences. If you find yourself in San Gimignano, make sure you visit the Chigi Tower and Palace. Luciana Cilemmi holds regular events in the rooms of the medieval tower, such as the presentation of wines, both from her vineyards and elsewhere, attended by international journalists, experts from the sector and critics. She also organises exhibitions of works of art and paintings, and press conferences on the subject of "Wine in San Gimignano during medieval times”. Visiting the home of Luciana Cilemmi is like re-living an aspect of the past that will not return except through the imagination of those who have believed and continue to believe in this story.
