Our main aim is to make terroir-driven wines which express the distinct character of our vineyards. We use indigenous yeasts when we can and pursue a subtle wine management to help each wine find its natural path and preserve the characteristics of each grape lot.
We ferment and age each lot separately for our classic wines, and only decide on which blend we think will do a particular grape and vintage justice after the ageing process.
We have three ageing cellars. A traditional cellar with large oak barrels for the Sangiovese used in our signature Montepulciano wines, a charming underground barrique cellar for varieties such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, and a 'Vinsantaia', where our Vin Santo and Occhio di Pernice age in 'caratelli', small 50 litre oak casks.
A genuine and authentic wine does not need to be constantly tested and improved, only enjoyed.
Giampaolo, our consultant winemaker, has worked in every major wine region in the world and is a font of wisdom and knowledge. He is a graduate of the highly renowned San Michele all’Adige Agricultural School in Trento. His philosophy about wine is as reassuringly calm and generous as he is: “do not disturb - the wine knows which path to take."
I want my wine to reflect the ‘terroir’ as much as possible, to be unique and delicious.
Florentine by birth, Matteo’s sensitivity to the terroir is reflected by the wineries at which he chose to start his career. He studied oenology and viticulture at the University of Florence and later gained a Masters in Oenology from the University of Bordeaux, where he also improved his knowledge of vineyards and wine while working for a number of prestigious wineries.
When the opportunity arose to work on the 2010 vintage at Avignonesi I jumped at the chance.
Working at Avignonesi gives Ashleigh the opportunity to combine new world winemaking techniques with the traditions of the old world. She attended Australia’s most respected winemaking and viticulture university, the University of Adelaide. Extensive and varied experience in Australia and European wineries have given her a true understanding of terroir.
Ashleigh Seymour, Avignonesi Winemaker since 2010 and originally from Melbourne, Australia, was brought up in a family that appreciated wine to such a degree that they spent the school holidays visiting wineries. It therefore was no surprise that she decided to study Oenology at the University..
Read more
San Giovanni d’Asso, in southern Tuscany, is one of the most important places in Italy for white truffles as well as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and yet it is considerably less famous than Alba, in Piemonte. Adriano Guidotti, expert truffle hunter who provides truffles to Virginie Saverys in..
Read more
Harvest: all expectations, fears and hopes are concentrated into these few, intense weeks. All the actions we take over the course of the year, the way we choose to harvest, the attention we show to the grapes, and the speed with which we work all have a major impact on the final product - our..
Read more
Any foodie worth their salt has truffles on their top ten list. Nothing new there. Artists and writers have been singing the praises of the strangely pungent tuber that appear almost out of nowhere with their delicate root systems for as long as people have been dining on them. There’s a..
Read more
This past week was a busy one at Avignonesi with the onset of the harvest taking up all of our attention and time. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are now in! The team is young in age, but rich in experience and thoroughly international in background. Spending time with them..
Read more
If you had to be a bottle of wine, what would you choose to be: white, red or rose? Let’s take this game one step further. What kind of closure would your alter-ego bottle have: a traditional cork made from trees that take 25 years to grow? A wishy-washy, synthetic cork? Or would you opt for..
Read more
