Halfway between Florence and Siena, in the heart of the Chianti Classico region, lies the small village of Panzano.

Compared to other vineyards in the area, Le Fonti is a small boutique style farm producing about 40,000 bottles or 3300 cases of Chianti a year, with a focus on sustainable farming practices.

Since 1994 all the vineyards have been replanted with selected rootstocks adapted to the mixed soil of gravel, schist, limestone, sand and clay - a soil mixture also known as Galestro. The composition of soil differs throughout the property and our vines are planted to use this to their best advantage.

The Merlot vineyard, for example, is in a place where we used to have Sangiovese but due to the high content of clay and sand this soil made the growing of Sangiovese was difficult and the grapes suffered especially after heavy rains. With Merlot in the same spot, these problems are almost non-existent; it proved to be an excellent choice to let nature help itself.

Overall we have almost 85% Sangiovese vines, with the remainder equally divided between Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon vines. By mid to end September we begin with the harvest for the Merlot grapes and in October the Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are picked.

Harvest at the Le Fonti Chianti vineyard is always done manually. The grapes are transported in small 15-20 kg cases to keep them in their best condition until arrival at the cellar.

In the cellar, the grapes are destemmed and another selection is made before moving to small stainless steel fermentation tanks for a cold soaking for 2-3 days before the fermentation begins. Whenever possible we let the grapes start fermentation on their own with their own indigenous yeasts. Within the first 36-48 hours we bleed off 10-15% of the juices from all Sangiovese tanks, a process also called "Salasso". The bled-off juice continues to ferment in a cold environment as a white wine would without any further skin contact. The outcome is a wonderful fresh and fruity Rosé. But we do not only practice the salasso method to make some great Rosé, but also to increase the skin to must ratio which brings out a higher colour concentration in the red wines.

3-4 times a day the still-fermenting must is pumped over the skins to extract all the colour pigments, tannins and aroma particles from the skins. After 20-25 days the first fermentation phase is finished and the finished wine is run off. The skins get lightly pressed and are brought for further processing to the famous Nannoni distillery where our grappa is distilled.

Meanwhile the wines go through a secondary fermentation, also called malolactic fermentation, where malic acid is transformed into milk acid, helping the red wine to get softer tannins. This secondary fermentation is usually finished by December and by January we can start making our blends and the wines are pumped into their various barrels for further aging.

Come join us for a Chianti wine tasting and cellar tour at Le Fonti. The winery is open Monday to Friday from 10 - 12 and 2 - 6. For other times, just give us a quick call to make an appointment. We're a small winery and can only accomodate small groups.

Contact us directly to arrange your Chianti winery visit with us.

Cook&Taste has moved to a brand new location, complete with a beautifully designed kitchen.

The Spanish cooking school is located on Paradís street, in the heart of the historical city of Barcelona, and offers cooking classes for individuals and groups, and team-building for companies.

Join Cook&Taste's unique cooking classes in Barcelona and discover the secrets of our traditional cuisine. You will learn how to cook the authentic typical dishes of Spain (paella, gazpacho, tapas,...)

You can start with a walking tour around the famous Boqueria market, getting plenty of tips on picking local, seasonal products, continue with the cooking experience and finish the adventure enjoying the menu prepared in a friendly and casual atmosphere.

If you are in Portugal, try to experience the Taylor's Port Wine Tour & Tasting

Port is made just like other wines, however, neutral grape spirit brandy is used to arrest the fermentation process to create a fortified, sweet dessert wine.

The Harvest

In September the grapes are picked by hand, by the same groups of villagers who gather each year for the harvest. As the grapes ripen at different times, picking commences near the river, the hot valley floor, reaching the upper parts of the vineyard a 1,000 feet higher, three weeks later. The vineyard is planted in such a way that those grape varieties that prefer the extra heat, such as Touriga Nacional, are planted near the river, and Tinta Cão at the top of the vineyard.

From Grape to Wine
The grapes are taken to the winery for pressing. At Taylor's most of the grapes from the vineyards are still trodden by foot in large stone tanks called lagares. Each lagar holds a day's picking, about 6,000 litres of grape juice or must.

Treading is not done for show - maceration by human foot brings out the full concentration of flavor from the grape skin, from which it draws a deeper color. Port production, unlike table wine, has only a three day production cycle (as opposed to seven days) giving little time to extract the maximum color and flavor.

Grapes not trodden are made into port using a number of possible methods from ‘pumpover' stainless steel vats and ‘vinomatics' to the most recent Taylor experimental fermentation tanks, emulating the maceration technique of the human foot.

Whichever technique is used, all port is fortified with grape spirit of 77º alcohol, before it has fully fermented - normally when only half the natural grape sugars have been converted into alcohol. This stops the fermentation, keeping the wine sweet, but raising its alcoholic strength to almost double that of a table wine: between 19 and 22 degrees of alcohol.

Storage
The wine is stored in great oak casks, resting over winter in the wineries where it was made. In the spring of the following year it is brought down to the Taylor lodge at Vila Nova de Gaia, opposite Oporto at the mouth of the Douro River.

Prior to arriving at the lodge, the wines are tasted to decide in which blend they will be used. Those destined for Tawny will be put in small casks (known as pipes) which contain only 550 litres, but allow the wines to mature to their characteristic orange-brown color.

Vintage Port
While vintage port accounts for only a small percentage of the total production, it is the possibility of declaring a vintage that excites everyone. Was it an exceptional year? Great enough to declare a true vintage? Or was it merely a very good year, justifying the production of "single quinta vintages". The decision is taken by the tasting panel, which consists of the Board of Directors, the winemaking team and the professional tasters.

A vintage wine is a selection of the very best wines from a single exceptional year. It is kept in cask for two years and then put into bottles, where it will continue maturing for many years. Each bottle is laid horizontally and given a splash of white paint, so that it will always rest with that side uppermost. The natural deposit will settle opposite the ‘splash'.

Vintage ports are shipped soon after bottling, and it is up to the wine merchant or the buyer to lay it down for years to come - at least ten, and as much as fifty. Single quinta ports are ready to drink around ten years old, and can last up to twenty years.

DEAR FRIENDS,

The Sergio Falaschi's Butcher, this year at the international exhibition of street theater "La Luna è Azzurra" in San Miniato, has decided to offer a show of puppetry, inspired by the Group " Teatro a Dondolo" from Pisa, based oa reinterpretation of the Three Little Pigs story, inspired by the three figures of pigs raised in the wild state, the ones rised in the semi-wild state and the pink pig raised in stable. The show will be accompanied by a live musical performance, conceived for the occasion by "Bill Gorazde".

During the the show, entitled " I TRE PORCELLINI IN MACELLERIA" (The Three Little Pigs in Butcher), a tasting of three different types of salami will be offered to the pubblic: The Cinta Senese Dop (from pork raised in the wild), the Grey (from pork raised semi-wild state) and classic Tuscan salame with wine (from pink pig raised in stable). The salami tasting will be all accompanied by "Annick" and "Nicole" wines by Cosimo Maria Masini.

.......We kindly requires adults accompanied by childrens.............

The evening event will be held on Thursday, June 24.
The performances will start at 21:15 and 22:15.