The Men and the Farm | Carlo Ferrini, Andrea Secco, Nino Angelo Caponi

The Men and the Farm

The Caponi family residence, la Colombaia

Le Palaie farmstead in the foreground; the Caponi family residence, la Colombaia, in the background

La Colombaia (the Dovecote), the family residence acquired from the Bishop’s Curia of Volterra

Nino Angelo Caponi, a successful entrepreneur, has entwined his professional experience into the creation of the farmstead’s two red wines, il Bulizio and LePalaie-Vigna di Luigi : The passion, competence and experience he has matured as a distributor of the world’s best wines to millions of consumers have form the basis of his search for excellence in a very careful and limited wine production. He has been guided and inspired along the way by his own enthusiasm and family history.
Let’s turn now to Le Palaie farmstead’s location in Tuscan ‘wine territory’: 65 km west of Greve in Chianti and about 35 km north of Bolgheri. Ever since production began, teamwork has been fundamental: our enologist is none other than Carlo Ferrini, one of the most famous experts in Italy and the world; Andrea Secco is a young winemaking technician with notable experience, gained both here and abroad, who tends the vines daily; and then there is obviously Nino Caponi, who guides and coordinates the creation of these excellent wines in the field or from the other side of the world.

Who is Carlo Ferrini

An enologist of world renown, Carlo Ferrini has received much international recognition:

2000 enologist of the year from Gambero Rosso/Slow Food;
2003 enologist of the year from AIS (Italian Association of Sommeliers);
2008 “Winemaker of the Year” from “Wine Enthusiast”, a specialist magazine about wine.

After receiving a university degree in agriculture in Florence in 1978, he has put his signature to wines produced by Barone Ricasoli, Poliziano, Casanova de’ Neri, Castello di Fonterutoli, Brancaia, Le Corti and other prestigious Italian producers.
From an interview with Carlo:
“I work with about fifteen producers and I’m always in the car, I even travel 200-300 km a day. It isn't possible for me to leave Tuscany the way I work, because I like to keep a close eye on all the work in the vineyards and supervise the farmers. I spend entire days in the vineyards. I give 'em a real pain in the …! I tell them how to prune the vines and I check how many bunches there are on each plant, because I like it very much and I’m passionate about it. I get bored in the wine cellar….”

Who is Andrea Secco

Andrea Secco, born in 1973, degree in viticulture and enology from the University of Pisa;
a student of Carlo Ferrini, he has worked for the wineries of Poliziano in Montepulciano and Talenti in Montalcino;
He gained important international experience in Australia at Casella Wines and in South Africa at Distell.
He has been managing director at Le Palaie for four years, where he is responsible for the well-balanced development of the land, the vineyards, the olive orchards and of the farm as a whole.

The new wine cellar

The winery’s wine cellar no longer has sufficient capacity to store the grapes that are produced.
The newly planted vines and those that are planned for the hills of "Le Palaie" are the outcome of an accurate analysis of product quality.
The potential of the winery’s land was the subject of an "agricultural development plan" approved by the province.
The plan also grants rights for constructing a brand new wine cellar, which will be equipped with the latest technology for separating the stems from the grapes, pressing and winemaking, and with an underground wine cellar for aging the wines.
Construction will be completed in time to take in the harvest for the 2010 vintage.