Podere la Villa
SAN CASCIANO | TUSCANY
| Founded: | 2003 | |
| Owner: | Ilaria Tachis | |
| Winemaker: | Alessandro Cellai | |
| Hectares under vines: | 7ha | |
| Altitude above sea level: | 280m | |
| Average annual production: | 15,000 bottles | |
| Green code: | Organic |
WHAT THEY SAY
“It all started in 2004 when my father Giacomo decided to replant the old 1.25 hectare vineyard in front of Podere La Villa. Ilaria recalls the first steps towards the winemaking future that she and her husband will embark on shortly after that date. Ilaria’s family moved to Tuscany in the Sixties, San Casciano then was a small rural town in the Chianti area. The countryside was truly “countryside” in the most basic, rural sense of the word. Plus, these were years of economic depression. There was nothing much available and the shops were often poorly supplied. Shop owners rarely respected their listed hours of business. Signs were often visible on shop doors with the words “CLOSED TODAY, WE ARE PICKING THE OLIVES”, or “BACK LATER” with no indication if “later” was referring to that day, that week or even the following month”. The rest is history.
WHAT WE SAY
For the record, the Giacomo aforementioned is nothing less than the legendary Giacomo Tachis. Simply the greatest of Italian winemakers and a very prominent international figure. In Italy there is in fact a “before and after Tachis” when we look at the oenologist’s work. In few words, before Tachis there was a prevalence of defects in wines. In an attempt to make drinkable and pleasant wines produced from grapes of less than excellent quality, the result of pre-Tachis viticulture favored quantity over quality due to elementary and sometimes insufficient technologies. The production is now led by Alessandro Cellai, Giacomo’s best pupil. I will only say that the wines are simply stunning and true reflection of the work that Giacomo did over his long and successful carrier.
WHAT OTHERS SAY
1963 saw the birth of the DOCs in Italy and this is also the time when Giacomo meet and started working for Piero Antinori. The meeting of those two young men, Giacomo Tachis, the Piedmontese oenologist, and Piero Antinori, the aristocratic vineyard owner, was the spark that ignited the beginning of what was then called the Tuscan Wine Renaissance. A few years later the Tignanello project was born. At the same time Mario Incisa della Rocchetta began to take an interest in elevating the wines produced at his estate in Bolgheri, on the Sassicaia estate. However, these was only the beginning. Tachis went then on to make many more famous wines. Solaia, Cervaro della Sala, San Leonardo, Sammarco, Vigna di Alceo, Chianti Classico of Castell’in Villa, Saffredi, Guidalberto, Brunello di Montalcino Argiano, Camartina and Batar. Then Turriga and Terre Brune in Sardinia, Rosso del Conte at Tasca d’Almerita, Milleunanotte and Ben Ryé for Donnafugata to mention a few.
WINES WE IMPORT
Red
Pargolo Chianti Classico DOCG
Giacomo Merlot IGT