Chianti is one of the best known wines and yet one of the most misunderstood. Chianti is a region in Tuscany. The grape of Chianti is Sangiovese. But not all...
I recently had the pleasure to sit down with Roberto Stucchi of Badia a Coltibuono. Located in Chianti Classico, in Tuscany, Badia a Coltibuono is a marker of great Chianti...
It is easy to think that all Tuscan wines taste similar. But recently, I had lunch with Nicolò D’Afflitto, the winemaker for Frescobaldi Toscana who shared the Cru wines from the most prized vineyards in the Frescobaldi portfolio. In my column in the Napa Valley Register, reposted below, Nicolò D’Afflitto shared his thoughts about terroir over variety as we tasted his wine.
“A variety can be from anywhere. I sell terroir,” said winemaker Nicolò D’Afflitto as I sat down to have lunch with him.
D’Afflitto is the director of winemaking for Frescobaldi Toscana. The 700-plus year-old Frescobaldi family owns seven estates in Tuscany that cover 1,400 hectares (3,560 acres). He oversees all of the Tuscan estates and, as he believes that the quality of the wine begins with the vine, he manages each of the vineyards as if they were his own children. “I know each vineyard, the rootstock, the clones,” he explained.
D’Afflitto grew up on a farm and studied in Bordeaux. He moved to the U.S. and worked in Monterey before returning to Tuscany to consult. In 1991, Nicolò joined Frescobaldi, working at Castel Giocondo and by 1995 he was overseeing all of the estates.
