Fall 2016
forerunner of winemaking excellence
The Plant-Based Revolution The plant-based alliance of lux
Catch up with Micah Risk, our icon ambassador
Feeding plants with plants & the benefits of cover crops
Querciabella Magazine Fall 2016 © 2016 Querciabella Società Agricola Querciabella SpA Via di Barbiano 17 50022 Greve in Chianti fi · Italy Tel + 39 055 8592 7777 www.querciabella.com Outdoor and cellar photographs by Paolo Metre Libertini. Indoor photographs by Roberto Prosdocimo.
06:30 Querciabella's ambassador Micah Risk training on the Ruffoli hillside
Contents 4 Leading by Example
6 Vegan Lux Headliners
8 Icon Ambassador Micah Risk Moving Forward with Passion and Ethics
13 Feeding Plants with Plants Replenish & Conserve
14 Provenance Matters Querciabella’s Ethos
16 Querciabella Tasting Notes Superlative Winemaking in Chianti Classico & Maremma
Querciabella Magazine · Fall 2016
Leading by Example Querciabella Pioneers Alliance with Other Vegan Innovators Our winery aims to shape the future with a special blend of ‘plant-based’ eco-innovators that includes nutritionists, fashion and shoe designers, restaurateurs, and more. This alliance was established in parallel to the rising international demand for organic and vegan luxury products. We established this network in order to create a synergy between likeminded entrepreneurs. The common goal is to influence global change with the belief that professional endeavours can place environmental conservation and humane practices on a sustainable trajectory while keeping high quality standards. Recently, some of these kindred spirits, who share Querciabella’s core ethics, gathered from around the globe to celebrate plant-based luxury.
New World of Entrepreneurship The wines of Querciabella convey the importance of rigorous quality, purity and ecological innovation, all elements to describe the driving force behind this roundtable. Participants included nutritionist and marathoner Micah Risk of Lighter, vegan shoemaker Paola Caracciolo of Opificio V, Chef Alberto Paluello of Mantra, and the cruelty-free fashion design labels The Splendid Clothes of Mr Ciaccia, TU&TU, Tiziano Guardini, Le Gout Interieur and Diamond Luisant. Paola Caracciolo, the CEO of Opificio V says, “It’s incredibly rewarding to be part of an ethical project committed to excellence.” Querciabella’s visionary owner, Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni, is pleased that “the outcome of our collective effort celebrates the fact that adopting earth and animal-friendly principles can lead to an exemplary business model that reduces environmental impact.”
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Top: Micah Risk & Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni inaugurating the first edition of Querciabella’s Vegan Delights dinner series on January 28, 2016 at Exhibit C in NYC. Above: Camartina pairs exceptionally well with the flavors of Mantra's raw chocolate, banana and strawberry sweet.
Micah Risk in the cellar tasting from the barrel
photograph by Paolo Metre libertini
˚ Micah Risk
photograph by Opificio V
Micah Risk hails from the Boston start-up, Lighter, a revolutionary community that challenges the Standard American Diet (SAD) and celebrates real food. The company offers a bespoke meal system and grocery delivery service focused on healthy plant-based food that has gained the support of dieticians, athletes and families.
Opificio V ˙
Vegan Lux Headliners What is Cruelty-free ? Cruelty-free fashion brands avoid the use of materials derived from animals such as leather, feathers, wool and fur, while also pursuing environmentally and human friendly practices.
Le Gout Intérieur ˙ Le Gout Intérieur collections are based on the reuse and revival of used garments that are cut and restyled from vintage items to contemporary pieces.
photograph by Le Gout Intérieur
photograph by Opificio V
Opificio V is an Italian luxury shoe brand that manufactures cruelty-free, non-leather footwear from wheat. The company is committed to ethical manufacturing, environmental sustainability and vegan luxury.
photograph by The Splendid Clothes of Mr Ciaccia
˚ The Splendid Clothes of Mr Ciaccia An ethical vision of fashion, with clothes made of splendid and cruelty-free fabrics in an artisanal way, to protect the environment.
What is raw vegan ?
photograph by Mantra
Raw vegan food is a revolutionary cuisine that preserves nutrients and vitamins by avoiding cooking at high temperatures.
Mantra ˙
photograph by TU&TU
Milan-based caterers Mantra pride themselves on being a restaurant “that doesn’t cook anything.” Their food is vegan, raw, refined and tasty, resulting in a healthy experience.
˚ TU&TU TU&TU is a clothing line that operates in complete respect for the ecosystem, humans and other living beings, by selecting materials that cause the least impact on the environment.
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Querciabella Magazine · Fall 2016
Ambassador
Micah Risk Moving Forward with Passion & Ethics
On the occasion of our ‘eco-innovators’ event, we welcomed vegan entrepreneur and marathoner Micah Risk to our estate as Querciabella’s first ambassador. Micah is a top athlete and role model for a well balanced lifestyle, including the occasional indulgence in a glass of fine wine. She finds that “it’s important to select what you put into your body, and if I have a glass of wine, I want it to be excellent as well as know that it comes from a sustainable process. We choose our options. Options that are healthy and pure are undoubtedly the best, and Querciabella is my choice – amazing wines!” Querciabella’s ambassadorial project was initiated by avant-garde vegan investor Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni during Vegan Delights, a New York event that he organized last winter to connect a pool of vegan and non-vegan innovators and professional leaders. The idea of Micah joining the Querciabella team saw its infancy at this gathering. Sebastiano foresaw the opportunity “to create a pivotal synergy between innovative businesses with an ethical backbone that strive for uncompromised quality.” He successfully intertwined his business acumen with other bright business leaders to endorse the bold cause of approaching endeavours with passion and ethics.
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Above: Micah cooling down and stretching after a morning run in the vineyard. Right: Micah wearing Opificio V shoes.
Querciabella Magazine · Fall 2016
“A dream of a white” — Hugh Johnson
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A shift to plant-based luxury
Mongrana is Querciabella’s Maremma blend
Querciabella Magazine ¡ Fall 2016
Cover crops provide vital nutrients to the soil
Cover crops (sovesci) on our Maremma estate
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Feeding Plants with Plants Replenish & Conserve The impact on the environment can be reduced in many ways when resetting companies to organic and vegan. By going organic, the chemical factor is taken out of the equation, which is an all-round healthy strategy. By going vegan or ‘cruelty-free’, animal by-products are removed, greatly reducing the harm to animals and damage to the environment. A recent Guardian article highlighted the scientific discovery that large amounts of CO2 are released from damaged soil and harm the ozone, while healthy soil pulls CO2 out of the atmosphere. Instead of damaging the ozone, Querciabella’s farming methods actually contribute to repairing the ozone. Science has proven that soil and biodiversity are damaged by pesticides, fertilizers, fungicides and insecticides. Our winery feeds plants with plants. The bottom line is that healthier soil leads to greater biodiversity and this keeps our vines happy. Monocrops tend to pull specific nutrients out of the soil year after year. We replenish these nutrients by planting a bespoke plethora of rotating cover crops. After two decades of proving that this method has fantastic results, we can’t imagine why it should be done any other way. The benefits are infinite.
The winery is a biodiversity oasis and wildlife retreat.
Provenance Matters Querciabella’s Ethos Querciabella, one of Italy’s largest biodynamic estates, produces wines in the Chianti Classico and Maremma regions that have the acclaim of international critics. Thanks to micro-vinification, a minimal intervention approach in the cellar and the use of organic and biodynamic practices in the vineyards, Querciabella is at the forefront of eco-innovation. Moreover, the innovative plant-based biodynamics that excludes animal by-products from the cultivation and winemaking processes makes vegan ethics the baseline of our company. There is a beautiful shift happening today whereby companies are taking notice of sustainable issues. Those of us who have carved this path for decades are celebrating this awareness, as it is a critical tipping point for the environment. Consumers are also aware that provenance matters and are increasingly curious about plant-based biodynamics. Tours of our cellars and vineyards are only a small part of the Querciabella experience. It’s the onsite guided tastings that excite our visitors as they get a deeper understanding of our story and the ethos behind our brand.
Querciabella’s owner, Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni
Photograph by Roberto Prosdocimo
forerunner of winemaking excellence
Through biodynamic viticulture, we celebrate the nature and history of our terroir, and we respect and exalt the quality of its fruit. — Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni
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Querciabella Magazine ¡ Fall 2016
Tasting Notes Estate Range Mongrana
The grapes grown in Maremma benefit from the sea breeze that keeps the temperature constant and gives the Mongrana perfect ripeness and roundness.
Querciabella
Querciabella Chianti Classico embodies the smooth and polished flavor of the Sangiovese fruit, carefully harvested from the top subzones of the Chianti Classico in Greve, Radda and Gaiole.
Turpino
Turpino, Querciabella’s Super Tuscan made of grapes harvested both in Maremma and in the Chianti Classico, is the flawless union of the two sites: crisp, intense but nevertheless impeccably balanced.
Mongrana
Querciabella
Turpino
Top 100 Best Wines at the Best Price of 2015.
A minor masterpiece.
A serious Super Tuscan with a baritone voice.
98/100 Daniele Cernilli Doctor Wine
Falstaff Magazine
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Bruno Vespa Panorama Magazine
forerunner of winemaking excellence
Estate Range The estate range – Mongrana, Querciabella and Turpino – is built upon the same idea of quality and finesse, as demonstrated by the consistent 90+ scores awarded by international critics such as James Suckling, Daniele Cernilli and Antonio Galloni.
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Querciabella Magazine ¡ Fall 2016
Ruffoli Collection Querciabella wines are the body and soul of the terroir. BatĂ r, Camartina and Palafreno evoke the pure and crisp flavors of the grapes grown in Ruffoli, providing wines that are of exquisite elegance and balance.
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forerunners of winemaking excellence
Ruffoli Collection Palafreno
Palafreno, Querciabella’s monovarietal Merlot, is produced only in years where phenolic ripeness is near perfection.
Camartina
Camartina, the winery’s flagship wine and a pioneer Super Tuscan, embodies Querciabella’s attention to finesse with its silky and fragrant blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Batàr
Batàr is unanimously considered as one of Italy’s greatest white wines. Its grace and bright acidity with mineral hints are the expression of the Ruffoli hills where grapes are grown.
Palafreno
Camartina
Batàr
A Merlot built on exquisite finesse.
Top 100 Tuscan Wines of 2014.
Tuscany’s most complex and ambitious white wine.
94+/100 Antonio Galloni Vinous Media
95/100 James Suckling
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Tom Harrow Financial Times
Visit Querciabella & discover the beauty of Chianti Classico. BOOK YOUR TOUR & GUIDED TASTING by e-mail: visits@querciabella.com · by phone: + 39 055 8592 7777