Welcome to Episode 1832 on Italian Wine Podcast, Wine, Food & Travel With Marc Millon. Today, he will be interviewing Rocco Toscani


More about today’s guest

At the end of the 60s my father Oliviero Toscani had enough courage and vision to build his own house in Casale Marittimo: a tiny hamlet on coastal Tuscany, up on the hills and a few kilometers from Bolgheri. He purchased a small farmhouse with some land all around and brought two horses. Every year he used to invest all his savings buying land. He did not believe in bricks but he did believe in the land. He was damn right! My father has always been a determined, subversive and visionary creative. These very qualities made him achieve an exceptional career and build a farm of indisputable beauty.

After planting more than 4000 olive trees, raising Appaloosa horses, Cinta Senese breed pigs, Angus cows and homing pigeons, we felt like our project was missing something: a vineyard. 12 hectares of amphitheater-shaped vineyard at 350 meters above sea level with a breathtaking view on the Tirreno Sea.

Thus, I, Rocco, was born and raised in this beautiful land which one never wants to leave and where one always wants to return. I’ve learnt the country life-style, its cycles, rhythms as well as its strengths and weaknesses. I’ve learnt how to recognize animals, every piece of land and every plant individually. My job as a photographer took me abroad to study and work. Eventually in 2014 I realized that this country had always been my real passion, so I decided to go back home to Tuscany.

Today, with the precious help of the winemakers Attilio Pagli and Valentino Ciarla, and agronomist Stefano Bartolomei, the winery has become an artisanal production where the care for our environment is at the first place, and a sustainable production are the base of how I conduct the vineyard.

My goal is to optimize the strengths of the vineyard and its terroir by producing wines that had never been experimented before in this area, making wines that reflect the features of their own grapes from their crisp freshness to their fascinating force. I’ve managed to change the cultivation method of the vineyard from a traditional one to the organic wine production by bringing back useful bugs instead of using chemical methods. The same goes in the cellar, low intervention wines with very little use of sulphites. All this makes this project extremely hard but very fascinating.


Connect:

Website www.vino.toscani.com 

Instagram: vinotoscani 


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Until next time, Cin Cin!


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