The word capable of representing the common denominator that moves the protagonists of this story could be identified in the term “courage”. Wine producers who have made their companies and the territory in which they operate successful their tenacity and passion, so much so that they attracted the attention of the American newspaper “The New York Times”, who just in recent days dedicated an article, written by Eric Asimov, to some female wine growers from the Chianti Classico area, protagonists of that real ros(s)a revolution. In these hours Huffpost has reached three of them.
What captured the attention of the American tabloid was certainly the importance of the denomination which in recent years has been able to relaunch itself and which today captures the attention of the great world critics, but above all the marked obstinacy that animates these women who have been able to make the difference and, why not?, to “wake up” a territory with great potential that perhaps in the past had sat on its success a bit, taking for granted the many challenges that need to be overcome today to be competitive on a world level. After all, if you think about it carefully, the symbol of Chianti Classico, the black rooster, was born from a legendary challenge, the medieval one between the Republic of Florence and Siena for control of the Chianti territory. An unusual competition: two knights who, starting at dawn, each from their respective cities, at the cockcrow would have to cover as much ground as possible because the meeting point would have marked the border of the two Republics. The Sienese chose a white rooster and fed it abundantly “pampering” it, the Florentines instead opted for a black rooster which was kept fasting, so at dawn on the appointed day the hungry rooster of Florence woke up earlier and the knight was able to leave in advance by conquering ground and greatly reducing Siena’s control over the Chianti area. Tension towards the challenge and “hunger”, in the sense of Steve Jobbian philosophy, precisely. Two states of mind that can be found in the words of the three winemakers from the hills located in the heart of the Tuscany region.
“I think we can never sit on our laurels, everything is in motion, the countryside, nature, the market, the producing countries” is in this sentence by Angela Fronti, of the company “Istine” from Radda in Chiantithe awareness of past experiences, but, above all, the desire to run at “breakneck speed”, so much so that the company has gone from three thousand bottles to one hundred thousand in just fifteen years, without ever betraying its vocation of territory and quality.
In the photo, Angela Fronti, from the “Istine” company in Radda in Chianti. Credit: courtesy Angela Fronti, photo by Clara Vannucci
Lorenza Sebasti has led the company for thirty years “Ama Castle” in Gaiole in Chianti, these days he is in Brussels to talk about his wines, because as Angelo Gaja, one of the noble fathers of Italian wine, often says, “the winemaker is lucky enough to have one foot in the vineyard and one in the world“. It is she who makes us understand the meaning of the article in the American newspaper: “In the story of Eric Asimov, an illustrious pen of American criticism, the value we give to the vineyard shines through. Ours is not a mere entrepreneurial project, but the desire to bring the land back to being reborn.”
In the photo, Lorenza Sebasti, from the “Castello di Ama” company. Credit: courtesy Lorenza Sebasti, photo by Alessandro Moggi
Susanna Grassi de also shares the same opinion “I Fabbri” by Lamole. He tells Huffpost: “The denomination is growing with increasingly territorial wines, and this is what arouses curiosity, also because the diversity of the products is also due to the personality of the producers and in this sense it is probably striking that behind many companies there is now a female component”.
In the photo, Susanna Grassi of the “I Fabbri” company in Lamole Credit: courtesy Susanna Grassi
Three women, of different histories, social backgrounds, of different ages. There is Susanna who at thirty years old leaves an established job in the fashion sector to question everything and take over her father’s company. There is Angela who in 2009 released the first vintage of Chianti Classico, definitively convincing her family to take on the challenge of competing in the world “armed” with bottles. There is Lorenza who in 1980, after getting lost on her way back from a party with some friends on the streets that lead from the city to the countryside, she arrives at dawn among her vineyards and falls in love with her so much that she makes it her life reason.
Listening to them makes you understand how far ahead this sector is on the issue of fair representation which is not synonymous with blocked quotas, but with entrepreneurial ability and vision and also, indeed, courage. There are many common points on which Lorenza, Angela and Susanna meet, first of all the question of paying attention to an identity narrative of the Chianti Classico, perhaps “challenging” the Consortium to take a further step towards zoning, a real wine register that contains and narrates the varied pedoclimatic characteristics of a unique territory. Then sustainability as the driver of present and future choices, a bet to be won on which wine has made and is making giant strides compared to any other agricultural sector. Then there is space for the human and artistic value of wine which is an expression of the meeting between the potential of the land, the vocation of the place, the achievement of man or, as in this case, woman.
The story of Angela, Susanna and Lorenza is that of de facto ambassadors, who know how to tell the difference between a Chianti wine and a bottle of Chianti Classico (and unfortunately sometimes they are forced to waste too much time on it, but we’ll talk about this later). another time), who know how to narrate the potential of a vineyard, its exposure and its soil, who have the ability to look into the distance without losing track of the past and the present. In an era of influencers and prospects for easy money, there are those who travel the world, take care of the vineyard 365 days a year, and try to describe a small portion of land in a bottle with a big future that can challenge the time without any fear. Three women capable of exciting and moving with words and wine.