Banditella di Alberese
Province of Grosseto
Established: 1997
Owners: Gianpaolo & Justine Paglia
Winemakers: Gianpaolo Paglia & Fabrizio Moltard
Production: 200,000 bottles
Hectares under vine: 42
Viticulture: Organic
In 1997, Gianpaolo Paglia and Justine Keeling purchased a run-down property in the appellation of Morellino di Scansano in Tuscany’s Maremma. The couple were ideally suited to the renovation task at hand – Gianpaolo was a qualified agronomist specialising in plant genetics and Justine a former wine marketing manager. The property is comprised of two estates: ‘Podere Adua’, close to the Maremma National Park, and ‘Podere Keeling’ in the hilly area to the north of the Scansano region, towards Monte Amiata. Podere Adua’s vineyards are planted close to the coastline on free-draining, sandy-limey soil that receives the full heat of the Mediterranean and very little rain. Podere Keeling is a newly planted vineyard on hilly terrain with rich clay soil and a cooler climate.
Bellamarsilia, the signature wine, is an oak-free blend of 85% Morellino, 10% Ciliegiolo and 5% Alicante and exhibits the wild, briary fruit flavours of the Maremma with notes of liquorice and chocolate. Capatosta, Italian slang for stubborn, is an old vine selection of the best Sangiovese (95%) and Alicante (5%), fermented in open top barrels and aged in large oak, resulting in a full-bodied, elegant blockbuster.
What’s new: Beginning with the 2008 vintage, Gianpaolo has banned the barrique! In his own words “we are now in the position to devote our efforts to a better knowledge of our land, our vineyards, our techniques of production, or in other words, our terroir. For the last decade I’ve been on a learning curve, of which barrique and a certain style of wine were part, now I feel I have to move further to find the true expression of my land in my wines. It’s going to take time, because nothing is fast when it comes to agriculture, but I’m sure I’m on the right path. How do I know it? Simply because I started to love my wines again.”
Wines
Morellino di Scansano DOCG ‘Bellamarsilia’
Morellino di Scansano DOCG Riserva ‘Capatosta’