Linfa was born from the desire to explore a different dimension of Syrah, yet another version in which this grape variety can be interpreted and expressed, in red winemaking (yes, because we also vinify it in white… and that's how our beloved Rosa del Castagno and Bolla Galeotta are born). After Il Castagno (our winery's signature wine) and Cuculaia (our cru), which mature for a long time in our barrique cellar, partly in wooden barrels of various sizes made for us by master cooper friends, and partly in old concrete barrels that have always belonged to our cellar and have been perfectly restored through the patient work of invaluable craftsmen, acquiring extraordinary elegance, depth, and complexity, and the "Castagnino," aged entirely (for a shorter period) exclusively in concrete barrels, to preserve its raw, wild, and fragrant profile, prioritizing varietal identity, immediacy, and drinkability over complexity, I felt the need to discover how my Syrah could express itself by being born and growing in symbiosis with another material that fascinates me, like wood and concrete, and that rightfully belongs to the most ancient, and natural, history of wine... and of man.
Linfa

After the usual, for me, indispensable two or three years of testing and experimentation, we decided to work entirely in jars made of the finest terracotta from Impruneta and other parts of Italy. A small batch of grapes, sourced from the same parcels of our vineyards, will form the wine from which, each year, we produce Il Castagno and Il Cuculaia, our most complex and evolved wines. There, after harvest (usually in the last ten days of September, in pursuit of maximum, optimal grape ripeness), alcoholic fermentation takes place, following destemming of the grapes with the berries intact (depending on the vintage, a small portion may also be whole bunches), punctuated by strictly manual punching down, as well as malolactic fermentation. And in the same jars, the wine macerates on the skins (which protect it from oxidative stress) for several months, until racking. Then, after a brief homogenization period in concrete vats, Linfa is bottled for a further period of bottle aging, lasting approximately a year. Its evocative name comes from the wonderful, chance discovery that it is an acronym for the names of my family members: my wife Alessandra, my children Isotta, Lavinia, and Niccolò, and myself. Already in love with this latest "child," I am convinced it can still grow, and thrive, perhaps even with the addition of tanks made from other, different, ancient natural materials derived from clay, and therefore from the earth, be they terracotta, ceramic, cocciopesto, or natural cement.