Le Verzure Toscana
As told to us by our friend Elizabeth Berger who…
As told to us by our friend Elizabeth Berger who originally connected us to Luigi and Antonella.
“THE OWNERS, THE PROPERTY Le Verzure is an extraordinary place. Nestled amongst dense forest in one of the most unpolluted positions imaginable, close to the Ombrone River and bordering the Brunello di Montalcino appellation to the North. You literally drive through the river to reach it and are surrounded by wilderness in the best possible sense. This land, acquired by Antonella and Luigi Villa in 2003 has been brought to life with amazing care. Luigi is a person, who reads, studies, analyses and considers in search of solutions, in the hope of achieving excellence and you really see this evidently at Le Verzure. With his wife Antonella, they have worked tirelessly enlisting friends and family to establish 5.5ha of beautiful vineyards, 4 of which are planted to Sangiovese and 1.5 to the indigenous white varieties Trebbiano and Malvasia. They have been restaurateurs for decades (further North in Italy) seeking out ingredients and learning what their customers want to drink, and after twenty years of searching, they finally found this perfect location. Luigi’s father was a farmer born in the early 1900s in the era of Steiner and so he taught his son to track the seasons whilst working in his shadow. Luigi felt a strong pull to return to the land and perfect these familiar traditions with Antonella. It is intrinsic to them both to farm as naturally as possible, creating organic and biodynamic wines, with full respect for their land. You could call it natural. Their philosophy is to take incredible care of their grapes, put them in the cellar carefully and then let the wine make itself. Their petite cellar is perfectly ordered, containing a range of vinification and maturation vessels ranging from large botti to amphorae. What you get is wines that are pure and invigorating, with a true sense of place, varietal and vintage and made by two people who believe passionately in what they do.”