SEAN E BAUMANN

In 1991, John and Palmina hired a young winemaker, Sean O’Callaghan, as an apprentice. He joined the Riecine team as an in-house winemaker and later developed his own modern take on the classic Riecine style. When the founders died in 1998, ownership of Riecine was transferred to the Baumann family from New York. Gary and Marlene immediately recognised Riecine’s potential and continued along the path paved by John and Palmina. Work began on the renovation and construction of a new cellar. The Baumann family and Sean worked together to bring Riecine into the new millennium, helping to establish Riecine’s reputation and expand markets and production until 2011.

LANA E ALESSANDRO

In December 2011, Lana Frank picked up the baton left by the Baumann Family and, before them, John and Palmina, and became the owner of Riecine. Lana’s vision was clear and unwavering: to preserve the typical style of the company’s wines, maintaining an artisan dimension, but equipping Riecine with first-class equipment. Immediately the cellar underwent a major renovation, completed in 2013, which was aimed at increasing the winemaking space from the previous 400 square metres to the current 1100 square metres. It was then that Lana decided to take a step back in time, technologically speaking, but with one eye firmly fixed on modernity. Whilst the wine cellar renovation was underway, 12 new unglazed concrete tanks designed by the French company Nomblot were purchased, and most of Riecine’s wines are still produced using these tanks. With the desire to follow in the pioneering footsteps of John and Palmina, it was important to be open to new projects in the years that followed. Since 2014, other vineyard plots have been acquired: the Gittori vineyard – historically run by Riecine – and, very recently, the Chiara vineyard, a small space nestled in the hillside overlooking the winery, which was cultivated until 1950 and then abandoned following the depopulation of the countryside. Since 2015, alongside Lana, there has been Alessandro Campatelli as director and wine maker of Riecine.

THE CELLAR

Fermentations are spontaneous and without the addition of yeasts, selected bacteria, clarifiers or chemical stabilisers. The characteristic terroir of each wine in emphasised as much as possible. After destemming, the grapes (or whole bunches when required) are transferred directly into concrete vats, where they remain until fermentation begins. The grapes are initially crushed, at least in part, by their own weight and this triggers a partial carbonic maceration, which is very important for obtaining a fresher fruit. On average, fermentation starts on the 4th or 5th day. During this period, and precisely because the grapes enter the vats whole, it takes time for the skins to break down. For this reason, and mainly to facilitate mashing, no pumping over is carried out during the first 48 hours. Instead, light punching down is carried out which tends to crush the grapes. On the second to third day, after mashing has taken place, short pumping over takes place. In the first 4-5 days, therefore, until fermentation starts, either one punching down or one pumping over operation is carried out per day. After 24-36 hours from when alcoholic fermentation started, a délestage of up to 12 hours is carried out to allow for complete oxygenation. Once the mixture has been pumped over, two operations per day are carried out for the rest of the fermentation period: either two punching downs or one punching down and one pumping over. Fermentation lasts 13-14 days on average, after which time the wines are left to submerge for between 5 and 25 days depending on the type.

REFINEMENT

From this moment on, the batches take different paths. Chianti Classico, Riserva, La Gioia and TreSette undergo a submerged cap maceration in partially filled tanks, which lasts for between 4 and 10 days. Throughout this process, the volatile acidity is constantly monitored. When the volatile acidity values reach 0.40-0.45 g/l, the tanks are racked and the wine is transferred into various different containers. The Chianti Classico is transferred into unglazed cement vats, large barrels of untoasted oak and used barrels; the Riserva is transferred into a single large barrel of untoasted oak; La Gioia into new barrels; and Il TreSette (pure merlot) into 700-litre barrels. The Riecine di Riecine stays even longer on the skins, sometimes up to 25 days. The tank at this stage is filled to avoid excessive oxygenation and, after racking, the wine is matured in unglazed cement vats. Riecine di Riecine’s uniqueness lies in the fact that throughout the entire vinification process it never comes into contact with wood. It is worth noting that three months before bottling, all of the company’s wines return to the cement vats in the open air to undergo natural tartaric and protein stabilisation, without the addition of adjuvants. Usually occurring around the end of October, this process is aided by the low winter temperatures to which the vats are exposed.