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exploring taste—santa margherita gruppo vinicolo

arvest is not only a time to pick grapes but also 'Harvest' is a very important word in this area. It is not difficult
“An occasion for people to get together and work to understand why as one arrives in the village that sits on the
side by side for at least three weeks in a row. It’s a hills of the so-called ‘Chiantishire’, a place that so many Amer-
Hway of celebrating the end of the season and the ican and English tourists have fallen in love with. They fill up
final moments of working together”. Francesco, bright eyes the restaurants and osterie in October, dining on chicken
and hands of a winemaker, takes us on a tour of Campolungo. liver, truffle and of course, red wine. Rows of vines lie in neat
This is a historic vineyard located in Lamole, in the town of lines, some following the slope of the land, others are planted
Greve in Chianti. The area – close to Florence and bordering on terracing with dry-stone walls that are typical of Chianti.
Siena – is home to the Sangiovese grapes that year after year The word Lamole derives from these terraces that from afar
constitute the Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigneto di resemble tiny blades placed one on top of the other, initially
Campolungo by Lamole di Lamole, the Tuscan wine produc- caused by natural erosion of the stone, hence the name Lamole
er Francesco works for. which derives from the Italian term for blade: lama. The prac-
It is a Thursday morning in early October and the harvest tice of harvesting has ancient roots and its social relevance was
is well underway. Tractors and men at work are visible from a core theme of the works of Greek and Latin poets and play-
a clearing along the road that gently ascends from Greve in wrights. Bacchus and the Bacchae are one of the most popular
Chianti to Lamole through a series of winding roads lined by representatives of wine in ancient iconography, ranging from
cypress trees where men separate grapes from the branches the all-too-famous motto “In vino veritas” to the scientific and
meticulously and methodically. naturalistic interpretations of Gaius Plinius Secundus – bet-
The person orchestrating the operations in one of the high- ter known as Pliny the Elder – the scholar who analyzed the
est points of Chianti Classico is wrapped up in multiple wool properties present in earth in relation to the cultivation of the
jumpers as the temperature is always cold in Lamole (the village vine and the quality of wine. In his Naturalis Historia– writ-
is 500 meters above sea level). He keeps an eye on the harvesting ten in the first century A.C.– not only did he list as many as
progress, as well as the weather – the wind is blowing and the 185 variants, but he also celebrated the supremacy of Italian
clouds are moving rapidly, shadows and patches of sun rotate wine over foreign ones. The uniqueness of this area is one of
regularly, which means the weather could change at a moment's the reasons that make the Chianti Classico Lamole di Lam-
notice and have an effect on the progress of the following day. ole so peculiar. The estate counts 173 hectares, 57 of which

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