Gratena

Gratena stands out from many other wineries because from the beginning it decided to produce only outoctonous wines, without imported grape varieties. Sangiovese and Gratena Nero, a recently rediscovered grape variety, was definitively certified by the Tuscany Region in 2017, of which we are the sole owners and producers. In 2018, it was certified that Gratena Nero is a synonym of Incrocio Terzi 1, a small-scale grape variety planted around the Bergamo hills. In fact, the last owner of Gratena before my grandfather was from Bergamo. All the work is natural: manual harvest, spontaneous fermentation without yeasts or sulfites, and no fertilization. Rain is our fertilizer, and we wait for it every year. We haven't used wood since 2016, only steel. Our wines must express our terroir, so the flowers and plants of our 140 hectares of forest surrounding our vineyards must give their support. Fermentation takes place in outdoor tanks, with day and night temperatures that balance our grapes during processing. No temperature control is used. Just a little sulfites before bottling allow our wines to age for a long time. Nature helps us, not always, to keep the balance of our terroir.