“WINEMAKERS FOREVER”. THOSE WHO CAN’T STAY AWAY FROM THEIR VINEYARDS: FROM STEFANO FARKAS TO LODOVICO ANTINORI, FROM PIERMARIO MELETTI CAVALLARI TO ROBERTO BELLINI AND LIONELLO MARCHESI

After thirty-one harvests at Villa Cafaggio in the Chianti Classico area of Panzano, Stefano Farkas still didn’t take a break when, in 2005, La Vis winery bought his company. Instead of taking a well merited vacation, Farkas transferred from the “wine paradise” of the Chianti area to another promising region, the Valle di Lazzaro, just 3 kilometers from Portoferraio on the Island of Elba. Here, in these enchanting environs, he acquired an old and beautiful farmhouse that was abandoned and he has now restored, putting back in functioning order all of the ancient terraces and refitting all of the structures.
It appears that for pure-bred winemakers, putting down the harvesting shear and the keys to the tractor is just impossible.

Still on the Island of Elba, another well known producer, Piermario Meletti Cavallari – Mr. Grattamacco for short – has made a similar choice. In 2002, after having rented his vineyards and winery in Castagneto Carducci to Claudio Tipa, the Italo-Swiss industrialist-wine enthusiast (also owner of 200 hectares of vineyards in Montecucco), decided to dedicate himself to his passion: Aleatico. And there is no better area than the Island of Elba to give life to a new enterprise of the sort. Thus, the Fattoria delle Ripalte on the Costa dei Gabbiani in the municipality of Capoliveri was born.
But they are not the only ones who can’t quit. There are many other “illustrious” names that can be listed.

In Montalcino, for example, the story of Roberto Bellini is exemplary. Upon arriving in the area of Brescia in the seventies he created one of the most beautiful wineries of the era, Pieve di Santa Restituta. In the mid nineties his encounter with Angelo Gaja inspired the formation of a joint-venture. After three years, however, he ceded his share to Gaja. But not even Roberto Bellini was able to retire. The seventy-year-old, who since the 1970’s has also managed the Podere Brizio, owned by the Connoni-Mazzi, decided in 1996 to join in a collaborative association with Patrizia Mazzi.

Lionello Marchesi, the successful auto parts industrialist, has also been a successful winemaker for over thirty years. A sector that for him is not just a grand passion but also a highly profitable investment. After having bought three wine companies on the auctioning block in some of the most sought after areas in Tuscany – Val di Suga in Montalcino, Tenuta Tre Rose in Montalcino and Fattoria San Leonino in Castellina in Chianti – he let them grow to maximum value and then ceded them to the pharmaceutical family Angelini in 1994. But not much time passed before Marchesi began once again with three new companies: in Castelnuovo Berardenga, right between the Chianti and Chianti Classico areas, he restructured an ancient monastery to create the exclusive agricultural and living complex, Il Castello di Monastero. The second property is the Tenuta Coldisole in Montalcino and the Poggio alle Sughere in Maremma, in the municipality of Magliano in Tuscany. And already the first results have received flattering comments from wine critics.

Another personality who appears unable to stay away from the land and vineyards is Lodovico Antinori. In 1981 he founded the Tenuta dell’Ornellaia, between Bolgheri and Castagnetto Carducci, and launched the two wines Ornellaia and Masseto, true top names in Italian and global enology. In 1999, Robert Mondavi, the most celebrated name in California winemaking, became a partner in the company, and would end up buying the entire company in March 2002, becoming the sole proprietor until the successive ceding to Frescobaldi. But even Lodovico, a man full of interests (he was even a photojournalist in Southeast Asia for a spell), could not help but feel the pull of the earth.
He subsequently returned to help his brother Piero with the Tenuta Campo di Sasso project near Bibbona (which has now changed names to Tenuta di Biserno and is where Lodovico Antinori now produces two excellent Supertuscans: Il Biserno and L’Insoglio del Cinghiale). It should be noted that the long ago ancestor Giovanni di Piero Antinori enrolled in the Winemaker’s guild in 1385, thus 26 generations of family that have been making wine. At this point it can be called the family’s destiny, a destiny that the Antinori family can consider an unchanged passion.
So it seems that “winemakers forever” is not just a saying but also a reality.

Andrea Gabbrielli