Bolgheri, territory symbol of world enology, from “founding fathers” to contemporary glories

Women have always been among the greatest admirers of wine and its culture no matter what role they have played in history, or they are playing today. The stories of Countess Clarice della Gherardesca, wife of Marquis Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, and her sister, Carlotta, wife of Marquis Niccolò Antinori, of Tenute San Guido and Guado al Tasso as a dowry, are linked to the history of wine, and especially to the rise of one of the most symbolic territories of world winemaking: Bolgheri. At the beginning of the 20th century and from that moment on, the stories of the territory between Castagneto Carducci and Bolgheri, on the Tuscan coast, tell about pioneering and oenological freedom (in the next few days, the WineNews video reportage will narrate its history, current events and beauty). Their stories are linked to 3 great International vines, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc - and Petit Verdot as well. The stories narrate crossing destinies — the great families of the past, and that is, the “founding fathers” of Bolgheri (Nicolò Incisa della Rocchetta, Lodovico Antinori, Piero Antinori, Pier Mario Meletti Cavallari, Eugenio Campolmi and Michele Satta), the Bolgheri wine companies, such as the Bolgheri Castle of Conti Zileri dal Verme, descendants of Della Gherardesca, one of the most important wine and non-wine entrepreneurs who have recently invested in the territory, believing in the potential of the "Bolgheri model”. And, just to name a few, Angelo Gaja with Cà Marcanda, Paolo Ziliani of Guido Berlucchi with Caccia al Piano (where the first classic method was created in the Municipality of Castagneto Carducci, therefore in the territory of Bolgheri, which the WineNews report will tell you about in the next few days), Marilisa Allegrini with Poggio al Tesoro, Giovanni Folonari from Tenute Folonari with Campo al Mare, Stanislaus Turnauer, Tenuta Argentiera to the Knauf family with Campo alla Sughera, Alejandro Bulgheroni with Tenuta Meraviglia and Le Colonne, Claudio Tipa di ColleMassari with Grattamacco, Michele Scienza with Guado al Melo (the winery is also a museum, library and educational center on wine, which we will narrate to you in our online video, coming in the next few days), Banfi, and Zenato with Podere Prospero.
Rereading over and over again the verses that the great poet Giosuè Carducci dedicated to these places, “the cypresses that in Bolgheri tall and frank go from San Guido in a double row” and “the sour smell of wines boiling in the vats goes to the souls in the streets of the village”, this is the story that WineNews narrated about Bolgheri for “Bolgheri Divino”, the en primeur of the Consortium for the Protection of DOC Bolgheri and DOC Bolgheri Sassicaia Wines, and the preview for the Italian and International press of the new Bolgheri Superiore DOC 2020 (which will debut on the market in 2023). It took place on September 2nd, in the unique location of the ancient Torre di Donoratico, between the Bolgheri vineyards and the sea. And for the first time, this second edition was open to the public on September 3rd and 4th, allowing enthusiasts to meet producers and taste the top most wines of over 60 wineries as well as the new 2021 vintage of Bolgheri DOC Rosso. The event included a “Widespread Tasting” between Frantoio di Casa Carducci and Castello della Gherardesca in Castagneto Carducci, whose history follows the Della Gherardesca family, its owner. It is where the lives of two of the greatest poets of all time crossed. Dante, in the “Divine Comedy” dedicated one of the most famous cantos to Count Ugolino della Gherardesca, whose statue, copies of which are in the Metropolitan Museum of New York and the Musée d'Orsay of Paris, welcomes visitors on the square. Giosuè Carducci, the first Italian Nobel Prize for Literature in works such as the ode, “Davanti San Guido”, in which he remembered the figure of a strong woman like his grandmother, Lucia Galleni, immortalized the most cherished places of his childhood, inspired by the Viale del Cipressi di Bolgheri. The arrangement of the cypress trees is the merit of Count Guido Alberto Della Gherardesca, pioneer of modern agriculture in the area, in the early nineteenth century. With the pragmatism that still distinguishes this territory today, he chose to plant cypresses, instead of sycamore and poplar trees, which were too inviting to buffaloes in the wild, designating them a poetic “immortality”.
Let’s now get to the present. The daughters are the heiresses of this area’s “Fathers” and a production committed to the constant pursuit of excellence. The “Ladies of Bolgheri” are among the most prestigious, elegant, refined and desired the world over today. A female “triumvirate” of the highest level, and the most important aspect is they are all different, but the future of the territory is very clearly their top priority. The three “Ladies of Bolgheri” are: Albiera Antinori, president of the Consortium and of Marchesi Antinori, at the helm of Guado al Tasso, the historic Antinori family Estate, and of the wine-symbol Guado al Tasso; Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta, head of external relations of the Tenuta San Guido where Sassicaia is produced, an icon of Italian wine in the world that has given rise and brought the territory to success, thanks to her father Nicolò Incisa della Rocchetta and the oenologist Giacomo Tachis, and Cinzia Merli, at the helm of Le Macchiole, founded by Campolmi, the first of the “Fathers of Bolgheri”. She carries on the production of wines such as Paleo and Messorio, both vice-presidents, at the helm of Bolgheri DOC.
“The goal we have set ourselves for “Bolgheri DiVino” is to put the great wines of Bolgheri at the center in their land of origin”, explained Albiera Antinori. The 2022 edition is different from the previous one, because of the great innovation: opening to the public”. It is a clear sign of the work that the area is carrying out also for high-level wine tourism. But the mission of this second edition, besides being obliged to insert the word "Tuscany" on the label and the amendment to the regulations for the production of the white version of Bolgheri DOC, is, first of all, to continue to increase the value of Bolgheri wines, while maintaining firmly together a unique and important history, and the market needs of a prestigious denomination riding the crest of the wave.