Andrea Franchetti's first wine adventure was created on the property Tenuta di Trinoro in southern Tuscany close to Lazio and Umbria.
In addition to owning a restaurant in Rome, Andrea Franchetti also worked as a wine distributor in New York in the 1980s. Here he made many friends in the industry; among them were Jean-Luc Thunevin of Chateau Valandraud in Saint-Émilion and Peter Sisseck of Domino de Pingus in Ribera del Duero. Each were visionaries in their own right, and their wines are some of the most respected in the world, so there was no shortage of good advice for Andrea. But ultimately, it is Andrea Franchetti's genius that has led the way in the creation of his wines.
Tenuta di Trinoro was Franchetti's first project. It was and is a departure from the normal way of doing things. For a start, Franchetti chose a sleepy corner of southern Tuscany to plant his vines, a place where sheep and wild roses were more common than vines. A place where new grapes had not been planted for over a century.
Then he decided to plant his vines high on the slopes of Amiata in a place where the eroded cliffs opened to limestone and clay from the ancient seabed. And last but not least, he planted Bordeaux grape varieties instead of the ubiquitous Sangiovese in Tuscany.
The vines are created from grafts of some of the best vines in Graves and St. Emilion. Thinning is mandatory and up to 60% of the grapes are removed to protect only the healthiest bunches. The growing season in this very hot corner of Tuscany often runs well into November, but the high slopes where the vines are planted ensure that they remain in balance.
With Tenuta di Trinoro, Franchetti has succeeded in proving that it was possible to make wines that could compete with the best from Bordeaux in an area that at the time was by no means known for quality wines - and even with grapes that had never before grown in the area.
