Ficomontanino is in Chiusi, a town in the province of Siena, in Tuscany, on the border between Umbria and Lazio. The mix of these influences is also clear with regards to the varieties they’ve chosen to grow, mostly Sangiovese, but also Verdello (white), Ciliegiolo and Gamay from Trasimeno. Maria Sole is a young woman in her 30s and her grandfather started planting vines around the time she was born, on a hill rich in sand and clay that dominates the valley, with great respect for the different crus that are naturally outlined by the slopes. She took over the winery about 7 years ago, after her degree in Gastronomic Sciences at the Slow Food University. She began exploring some natural farming methods, and with time she found herself comfortable with Fukuoka’s approach (minimum intervention, natural grass around the plants) and with Biodynamics (especially for the way plants react to the preparations). At the winery she also farms cereals and breeds horses. The vineyards and the olive groves are on two hills that are mostly sandy, and this is one of the features that distinguishes this terroir compared to the rest of Tuscany. This was an area covered by the sea for million of years where there are many salt deposits. These soil features bring elegance rather than power to her wines, particularly for Sangiovese that represents an 80% of her production. Over the years she managed to use less copper and sulphur to protect the plants from diseases, preferring resistance activators and stimulating the plants by pruning on the roots, selecting natural herbs that better adapt to the vines and biodynamic preparations. After the fermentations some crus are assembled together to make Bulgarelli, the every day red, 100% sangiovese that ages in concrete and steel. Some crus continue their path on their own, for the single vineyard bottlings. This applies to Sangiovese, that she also vinifies in a rosé version, with selected grapes, pressed directly and aged in steel, with which she makes her everyday rosé Noble Kara. She also has a small parcel with Sauvignon Blanc, where she selects grapes that are directly pressed for the everyday white Zacinta Revi, that in this area acquires a special savory character, going beyond the classic nature of Sauvignon and becoming a true terroir wine. Her vision is based on two ideas that she still fondly believes in, and that are both intertwined. Firstly that “best wines” in the absolute sense don’t exist, there’s only the best way to mirror the terroir and the people that make the wine. Secondly, in order to reach this objective the best way is natural viticulture and winemaking. That’s how she started. And today she keeps on working in the same way. She’s lucky to have a winery where there’s one single parcel of vines, surrounded by woods, hills, olive groves and cultivated fields that interact and act as a unique organism. Together with the people and the animals that inhabit it.