Eric Boissenot, from the greats of Bordeaux (Latour, Margaux, Lafite and Mouton) to Bolgheri

Italy and France are, since time immemorial, competitors in the wine market. But they have more and more points of contact, starting with the great French enologists at the court of producers in Italy. And so, if two excellent cases of sparkling wine are those of Richard Geoffroy, historic former chef de cave of Champagne legend Dom Pérignon, today at Bellavista, icon of Franciacorta, and Cyril Brun, former chef de cave of Charles Heidsieck, and today of Ferrari, reference of Trentodoc, there is no shortage of consultancies initiated in Italy by a “sacred monster” like Michel Rolland (at Caprai, in Montefalco, at Tenuta di Biserno, not forgetting past consultancies at Ornellaia and Masseto, in Bolgheri), who a few years ago left the direction of his company’s operations to Julien Viaud, at his side since 2006, as well as those of Stéphane Derenoncourt, who, with Derenoncourt Consultants, follows, among others, Scopone, in Montalcino, Campo alla Sughera and Tenuta Argentiera, in Bolgheri, La Massa, in Chianti Classico, and Inama, in Soave. Just to mention the most famous examples, to which is now added the prestigious one of Eric Boissenot, one of Bordeaux’s stars, son of Jacques Boissenot, right-hand man of Émile Peynaud, former consultant to four of Bordeaux’s five Premier Crus - Latour, Lafite-Rothschild, Margaux and Mouton-Rothschild - who signs the new wines of Tenuta Fratini, the latest entrepreneurial venture of Corrado and Marcello Fratini, from the famous Florentine fashion family (who have developed, over the years, brands such as Guess and Calvin Klein), in the Bolgheri land they fell in love with.
The Fratini family arrived in Bolgheri in 1999, where they “founded Tenuta Argentiera, for a project linked to my father Corrado’s passion for wine”, Ludovica Fratini, Tenuta Fratini marketing manager, tells WineNews, “who as an inexperienced initially was guided by Piero Antinori, a family friend”. Argentiera, then, was sold in 2016, but the passion for wine and for Bolgheri, “a land of excellent wines and beautiful landscapes, did not go away, and we started a new project. That of Tenuta Fratini. A project that started in 2016, with three years of in-depth study of all the land”.
Tenuta Fratini relied on the cutting-edge advice of Nelson Muñoz Jara, of AgroPrecision, and that of Françoise Vannier, of Adama Terroirs Viticoles, for soil mapping. Their input enabled the introduction of Mrs (Magnetic Resonance Sounding), an innovative technology that has led to extraordinary results in soil analysis, enabling a thorough understanding of the unique characteristics and the selection of the most suitable one for each type of vine, and thus optimizing wine production to ensure superior quality. They are joined by the contribution of Xavier Choné, an internationally renowned agronomist with extensive experience in the world of wine and an expert in mapping and understanding terroir, who has helped to carve an indelible furrow in the culture of Médoc soils. His profound knowledge of terroir and his ability to improve the quality of wines have made his advice invaluable to numerous wineries, such as Château Léoville Las Cases, inspiring a new generation of winemakers and consolidating his status as a renowned expert in the field of terroir and viticulture. Not to mention the work of Pedro Parra, a world-renowned Chilean wine consultant who has become famous for his studies on the deep roots of vines and his unmistakable way of working based on very deep digging and trenching in the vineyard.
“After 3 years of analysis, we planted the vineyards, different in each plot, and today there are 28 hectares planted to Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot out of the total 1,000 hectares on the estate. All to Igt Toscana, plus 2 hectares claimed to Doc Bolgheri, for the time being leased. And today, the first Doc Bolgheri wines signed by Boissenot are about to arrive, not forgetting the work of one of the most prominent Italian enologists of the moment, “Emiliano Falsini (Gruppo Matura), an enologist who constantly follows the estate, and who works closely with Boissenot”, Ludovica Fratini further explains. Because, if the Igt Toscana Clinio is already on the market with the 2021 vintage, again with the same vintage, around October, the estate’s two Doc Bolgheri wines signed by the French hand, Hortense (80% Cabernet Franc, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon) and Harte (72% Cabernet Franc, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot), will debut. And if the debut production, Ludovica Fratini further explains, is around 30,000 bottles (23,000 for the Clinio, 3,000 for the Hortense and 4,000 for the Harte), “at full capacity the goal is to reach a total production of 120-130,000 bottles”.