Montesecondo: Silvio Messana's take on Chianti

3/14/18 -

The Italian wine scene has never been more exciting than it is now, with producers exploring new terriors in places like Mount Etna and Friuli, and utilizing many long neglected cultivars (ever hear of Ciliegiolo?).  In the rush to explore this incredible variety of new wines, excellent producers in more traditional areas like Silvio Messana of Montesecondo in Chanti often get short shrift. In a region known for producing mostly staid wines, Silvio has always produced wines of character without pretension, in traditional as well as innovative styles. 

He took the helm of the estate in 2000 and quickly moved away from conventional farming in favor of organic and biodynamic practices. Silvio had realized that not only was his health suffering from the chemicals but that the land wouldn't express itself without a more natural approach. His goal has always been to allow the terroir to show itself in the glass. The farm contains two separate vineyards in the Chianti Classico zone, each lending different qualities to the resulting blend. The first, a lower elevation plot on a heavier soil of clay and marl, produces richer wines while the second, much higher at 500 meters on a soil composed primarily of limestone, lends acidity and freshness. All fermentations in the winery occur with native yeasts, sulfur is only used at bottling, and new oak is shunned in favor of more neutral vessels.

The approach hasn't been without conflict. In 2003, when he first produced a young-vine cuvée, the DOCG commission refused to certify the wine as Chanti Classico; intially they claimed it had too little color, then that it had too much. This was of course in an era when French varieties and small, new oak barrels were increasingly being used in Chianti to create richer and more standardized wines.  Silvio took this as a sign that the commission simply would not certify the cuvée as he had made it: a lighter wine made entirely from Sangiovese without the flavor of oak. As a result he now only seeks to label his most traditional wine as Chianti; the rest are simply labeled as IGT wines even though all of his vines are in the Chianti Classico zone. Silvio also produces two cuvées in clay amphore, including a skin-contact Trebbiano that is quickly becoming one of my favorite orange wines.

No matter how they are labeled the wines are wonderful, elegant expressions of Tuscan terroir, classic or not.  Please join us in welcoming Silvio Messana of Montesecondo to the store to taste his delicious wines this Friday the 16th from 5 to 7 PM. 

-Andy Paynter