Monteverro

2019 is the year of our Green Soul since it will lead us to the official organic certification! In this section we keep you updated around the most important news on our winery.

Monteverro’S GREEN SOUL / The  journey began during the origin of the estate - in 2003 - in search of a sustainable balance between land and vines. Monteverro - after years of testing and experimentation - has chosen to start the process of organic certification that will end in 2019. Our strategy takes into account all of the elements that characterize a specific agricultural reality. To put into practice this cultivation philosophy, we started an important collaboration with Lydia and Claude Bourguignon - world-renowned agronomists. Their support was crucial to understanding our soils and to start an organic activity through works such as soil profile study, decreasing workmanship, and sowing seedlings. We worked on the plant itself, introducing new pruning and breeding techniques such as Guyot, this allows us to have more balanced plants.

We then decided not to use insecticides and at the same time increase the insect population areas by planting more than 1 km of hedge of the native Maremma plants within our vineyards. In order to increase biodiversity, we sow flowered meadows and placed birds and bats nests. Synthetic pesticides have been progressively eliminated to use only authorized organic farming products, succeeding - over time - to use them in a low quantity.

Wine Maker Matthieu Taunay and Vineyard Manager Simone Salamone. Ph. © Leif Carlsson

In winegrowing, sometimes what is necessary is also just instinct. One day, Georg Weber stood at the foot of the medieval town of Capalbio in a landscape still characterized by grain fields. He looked over the slopes that gently drop to the Tyrrhenian Sea, felt the mild breeze that blew in from the water, and breathed the scent of the Mediterranean scrub, of the prolific herbs and flowers. That is when he knew: ‘‘this coast has incredible potential.’’

Today, Monteverro extends over around sixty hectares (150 acres) that gently climb from thirty to sixty meters (one hundred to two hundred feet) above sea level. Above the winery is the town of Capalbio with its perfectly maintained medieval town center around the twelfth century San Nicola church, in which, incidentally, Julia and Georg Weber were married. Even the old name Monteverro refers to the natural setting of the location: verro is the Italian word for ‘‘boar’’, a reference to the fact that the Mediterranean scrub around Capalbio is home to many wild boar.

Our goal is to create a world class wine on the Tuscan coast. We firmly believe in the potential of Maremma and the pure pleasure that a great wine gives motivates us every day in our work in the vineyards and in the cellar - we try hard to achieve our goals, and we do this out of utter conviction, strong ambition and unbridled passion.

As a result of uncompromising work by hand and careful selection in the vineyard, as well as precision and lengthy aging in the winery, we assist every grape variety, every individual vineyard, and every vintage in achieving their best possible expression.

A good wine comes not from the winery, but rather from the vineyard — we are convinced of that. Because to the greatest extent possible, we want to let nature run its course. We place great value upon biodiversity and made a conscious decision against monoculture. Out of the sixty hectares (150 acres) that Monteverro comprises, only thirty-five of them are planted with grapevines (of which only around twenty-seven are in production). The remainder is covered with olive trees and Mediterranean scrub, and thus a multitude of bushes, shrubs, grasses, flowers, and herbs.

We view each one of our vineyards as a tiny microcosm which is subjected to widely varied influences. Because it is first and foremost the red clay which characterizes our soil, a terrain with a high mineral content that is interspersed with rocks, thus providing natural water drainage. In order to support the healthy development of the plants, we have also installed an intense drainage system in the ground which can drain away excess water. In this way, we make it possible for the vines to send their roots as deep as possible and completely exploit the mineral quality of the soil. One factor that favors our terroir is the location close to the sea, which not only lends the wines a certain lively savouriness, but also provides cooling in the hot summer through the breeze that comes off the water.

Growing in the individual vineyards, which are oriented north-south, are primarily the Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc varieties, which constitute around sixty percent at Monteverro. These are followed in order by Merlot, Syrah, Grenache, and Petit Verdot — all of these varieties are also planted in a north-south direction so that the sun shines evenly on the leaves. With the Chardonnay grapes (a total of just over two hectares, or five acres), a loss in acidity needs to be prevented. That is why these plots are arranged east to west. The grapes are to a large extent covered by the leaves and thus protected against direct sunlight.

From the very beginning, the Webers have placed particular value upon working together with the most renowned soil experts, such as Lydia and Claude Bourguignon, in order to make the best possible use of their terroir. Their fundamental philosophy is based upon an integrated approach in the treatment of the soil from which the grapevines derive all of their energy and health. The soil is treated as a living organism, the balance of which is destroyed by the use of herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides. The particular care in dealing with the soil results in the fact that today, the wines from Monteverro can profit from deep soils that are rich in microorganisms.

In our winery, sustainable activities, a great deal of work by hand, and innovative technology all complement each other. The overriding maxim is to intervene as little as possible in the natural fermentation and maturation so that the wine can develop to a large extent undisturbed. 

Because conditions can change in the vineyard just within a few meters, for harvesting we subdivide each plot into microplots which are then picked at different times depending upon the degree of ripeness. The grapes are transported in small crates and are selected by hand once again at the entrance to the winery, after which they are chilled in a separate cooling tunnel to approximately 4° C. (39° F.) before being processed further.

 We do not use pumps: during the entire vinification process, we use only gravity and our automated crane system to move them. The wines ferment in small stainless steel tanks (50 hectoliters/1,300 gallons), once again divided by their microplots. In so doing, only natural yeast is used in order to foster the formation of aromas and aging potential in our wines. Finally, the red grapes are gently pressed in a vertical basket press, the wine matures up to twenty-four months in barriques (small oak casks), which originate from the best French cooperages. Two of our wines, the Chardonnay and the Syrah-Grenache called Tinata, also mature for some time in an egg-shaped concrete tank. In its interior, the wine can flow and circulate undisturbed without seams, corners, or joints, while the porous, breathable material of concrete lends the wines a very distinct originality, finesse, and freshness.

Temperature and humidity are automatically controlled. A heating system runs under the floor of the barriques cellar by means of which the temperature can be increased under the wooden barrels in order to restart the malolactic fermentation, if necessary.