New Tuscan Wines | San Felice

Round & About Magazine’s resident wine columnist Giles Luckett talks to Leonardo Bellaccini of San Felice as he explores Chianti’s new style of wine

San Felice: Tradition Meets Innovation in Tuscany

When most wine lovers think of Tuscan wines, their thoughts turn to picturesque hillside vineyards and ancient stone cellars in which traditional wines such as Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino are produced.  It’s a charming, romantic vision that befits this stunning region.  A thought that’s less likely to cross their minds is ‘innovative’, and that’s to do this 3,000-year-old winemaking region a disservice.  Late in the twentieth century, Tuscany morphed into a hotbed of invention as quality-focused producers sought to take the region’s wines to new heights.  The results have been incredible as I discovered when I looked at a flight of wines from the pioneers at San Felice and caught up with their winemaker, Leonardo Bellaccini, whose wines blend modernity with tradition to wonderful effect. 

Giles: Would you sum up your winemaking philosophy as innovation meets tradition? 

Leonardo: Ours is a classical approach but with a Bordeaux influence, so 20-25 days of skin contact and fermentation temperatures [for red wines] of around 28 degrees.  As climate change takes hold and consumers seek more elegant, less alcoholic wines, so we are reducing these to give the fruit greater prominence without reducing complexity.  We’re also cutting back on the amount of wood we’re using as wood can mask the character of the wine.  The Borgo, for example, only utilises large Slavonian oak casks, not small [225 litres barriques common in Bordeaux] ones. 

G: Over the last 20 years or so there’s been much more attention paid to the concept of terroir in Tuscan wines, what makes your terroir so special? 

L: At San Felice, we have a collection of terroirs ranging from limestone nearest the winery to sand, gravel, clay and marl.  It provides a wonderful palate with which to work as grapes like Sangiovese, Pugnitello, and Chardonnay respond differently on different soils.  In the ‘60s/’70s, and ’80s when production was the soils were not respected.  We’ve reversed that by reducing tractor use to avoid compacting, planted cover crops, our composts are home-made from vine trimmings and skins, and this regenerative approach is breathing life into the soil.  We understand now that terroir is an eco-system: soil, plus microbiology, plus weather. 

G: Pugnitello is a grape I’ve not come across before, is this a San Felice speciality? 

L: Pugnitello, meaning ‘little fist’, is an ancient grape that almost became extinct.  We worked with the universities of Pisa and Florence and planted a small experimental vineyard in 1987, and we now have 12 hectares of it.  I think it fell from favour as it gives low yields, small bunches of grapes that can be hard to find behind the ample foliage, and it’s also prone to mildew.  The quality is high though and it blends well with Sangiovese or as a varietal wine. 

G: Climate change is a massive issue for winemakers worldwide.  How is it affecting Tuscany and what measures is San Felice taking to address it?  Is excessive heat, storms, and drought changing the nature of the wines, and will there be a move to introduce new varieties as they have done in Bordeaux? 

L: We’re moving to organic methods, and we’re already certified as sustainable.  We’re great believers in sustainability.  For the past 15 years we’ve been self-sufficient in power, and we collect all the water from our hotel and pump it into a lake for recycling, and we dry farm [no irrigation].  Many of the region’s producers are looking to higher vineyards.  The highest [over 600m] were once deemed as second class but these are now becoming sought after.  The wines’ character has also changed.  In the 1990s they were driven by acidity and green tannins, but post-2000 climate change, producer changes and vineyard management have seen them become far more rounded and complex. 

G: Nicholas Belfrage MW wrote in his 2001 book ‘Brunello to Zibibbo’ that thanks to better site and clonal selection in 25 years, so now, that Sangiovese would finally reach its full potential.  Do you think that’s true? 

L: Many of us worked hard in the 1980s/1990s on the Chianti Classic 2000 project.  This involved a massive amount of research and experimentation into rootstocks, planting densities, and canopy management – something that’s become vital in the face of climate change.  This and the switch from quantity to quality has seen the overall quality of the Sangiovese we’re getting improve significantly.  While the maximum yields allowed in Chianti Classic are 7.5 tonnes per hectare, we’re getting 6.5 tonnes at most. 

Thank you, Leonardo. 

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San Felice is a credit to Tuscany and their passion for it and their desire to see its wines take their rightful place amongst the world’s finest is laudable.  More importantly, wines such as these are delicious and well-worth seeking out.