Wine, Gods, & Barnyard - Where Ancient Rituals Meet Modern Winemaking
- inside Pacina's organic, biodiverse vineyards
It is interesting how throughout history, wine has been associated with religiosity. Likely, the ritual of prayers (and sacrifices?) was intended to ensure good harvests and vinification. These were directed to gods of wine, patron saints of wine, Jesus Christ and his mother. Crosses and statues of the Virgin Mary are still present throughout European vineyards. It does speak to the importance wine has played in society throughout time.
The Etruscans, who lived in what is now central Italy, specifically Tuscany and parts of Umbria, were no different. Their god of wine was named Pacha or Pachna
The name of today’s featured winery is Pacina, named after said God. The Pacina property is a prior monastery from the 10th century in the Chianti Hills, a few kilometers east of Siena on the border of Chianti Classico and Chianti sub-regions in Tuscany, Italy. The main grape of the region is Sangiovese. It has ancient origins dating back to the Etruscan period (8th to 3rd century B.C.).
Today, Giovanna Tierzzi and Stefano Borsa, with their children Maria and Carlo, are at the helm. The family’s involvement started about 100 years ago when Giovanna’s great-grandfather purchased the property.
Thirty years ago, the Tierzzi-Borsa family took over from Giovanna’s parents Enzo and Lucia. Both were at one point employed at the University of Siena. Lucia is a biologist and writer. Enzo was a professor of physical chemistry and author of books on sustainability. They were both pioneers in the environmentalist movement in Italy.
This led to a culture of minimum intervention at Pacina since the 1980s.
Can you define minimum intervention again?
I have talked about low intervention in terms of natural wines. Unfortunately, this can mean a lot of things and lead to a lot of confusion. To keep things simple, let us focus on what that means for Pacina.
Let’s start in the vineyard where, for over 20 years, they have been certified organic, stating “no chemical or artificial products are used at all.”
But it must be said that to achieve this there is a whole mindset. In their case, Pacina is and has been for a long time a biodiverse farm.
Big words for a little woman!
Biodiverse is a word to explain it is not a mono-agricultural farm.
Not helpful.
They do not only grow grapes. They also have an olive grove and grow cereals and legumes. Pacina lands also include a significant wooded area.
You have not talked about biodiversification before, have you?
Biodiversification helps the natural ecosystem do its job. By job, I mean the predator-prey cycle that keeps the various organisms involved in check (typically). The goal is to have a stable ecosystem where pests, crop disease, and weeds are minimized.
Biodiversification can also reduce soil erosion and soil compaction to ensure the micro-organisms in the soil stay intact and stay healthy. In turn, healthy soils help the soil and the vines to combat harmful elements without interventions and to produce flavorful fruit.
Does Pacina practice minimum intervention winemaking in the cellar too?
This is where I love that they use the word minimum. Notice it does not say NO intervention. I have talked in the past … and been quite negative about natural wines in general. But the key thing is …. these guys intervene when necessary.
Case in point. This wine has a little Brettanomyces (aka Brett).
What is Brett again?
Brett is a yeast that can be introduced in wine typically during the barrel or cask ageing. It is controversial, and particularly so in low intervention and natural wines.
Some think any Brett is a fault as it is a microbiological spoilage and should be avoided at all cost. Others, like me, think that if it does not dominate and it complements the rest of the wine flavors and aromas, then it simply adds to the complexity.
Brett won’t hurt you by the way. In fact, it is very common in some Belgian-style beer where it is considered a basic stylistic characteristic.
Please describe how you experience brett on your palate for our readers!
“Our readers???” (eye roll)
As with any aromas and flavors, different people will experience them differently. For me, in this wine, I would describe the Brett as a little barnyard. Other descriptors for Brett are animal, sweaty saddle, funky, medicinal, and band-aid. The amount of concentration in the wine will also affect how it is experienced.
I did a tasting once where one of the participants asked if anyone found the Chateauneuf-du-Pape had notes of “poo.”
Oh boy!
In that case the wine was from a very reputable producer and I had noticed the Brett and thought it complemented the wine’s complexity.
All that to say that in this wine, there is some Brett. The technical notes on this wine state they did add a little sulfur dioxide, which is an additive that is used in winemaking to prevent, reduce, or eliminate micro bacterial spoilage.
Since Brett concentration increases with time and this wine is a 2015, it implies the Brett would have been present in extremely low concentration at bottling time. In other words, if the Brett had been in higher concentration at bottling time, the Brett would be dominant by now.
Having said that, I would not recommend ageing this wine further, as the Brett could become dominant and overtake the other flavors and aromas.
So, we don’t end on the question of:
“For you, is it poo, or not poo?” ….
I will pose another question to wipe the palate clean so to speak.
You said that the property straddles the border between the Chianti and Chianti Classico. So why do I not see Chianti or Chianti Classico on the label?
In 2009, Pacina withdrew from the Chianti Consortium. So, this wine is a declassified Chianti. In other words, they qualify to be part of the sub-region and use the sub-region name on their label, but they chose not to be part of it.
Why?
There could be many reasons producers would declassify a wine. In their case, they felt that the decisions made by the Consortium was not in keeping with making high quality wine. And this is definitely a high-quality wine! So who can argue with that!
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Pacina 2015, Tuscany, Italy
Style: Old World Full Body Red
Varieties: 95% Sangiovese, 5% Canaiolo & Ciliegiolo
This intense wine starts off with notes of sour red cherry, herbs, cereal, and animal/barnyard/funk that evolved to floral aromas, fruity funk, ripe strawberries, dried strawberries, dusty red cherry, black cherry, licorice, minty anise, earth, medium dark chocolate and, cocoa flavors. The very high chalky tannins are of high quality and the finish is long.
Best pairings: Bistecca alla Fiorentina, Pasta with ragu sauce, Mushroom risotto, Eggplant, chicken, or veal parmesan, Olive tapenade, Aged Pecorino, Parmigiano Reggiano.
Serving Temperature: 16-18 degrees Celsius
Serving Tips: This wine contains sediment so decant to separate the wine from sediment, to soften the tannins, and to allow aeration for full flavor expression. Decant a minimum of 30 minutes. The decantation did reduce the Brett character.
Price: ~$ 45 Cdn
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SOURCES:
Chianti farm: Natural wines: Tuscany: Italy (no date) Pacina. Available at: https://www.pacina.it/?lang=en (Accessed: 03 December 2024).
Etruria (no date) Encyclopædia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/place/Etruria-ancient-country-Italy (Accessed: 03 December 2024).
Harding, J. and Robinson, J. (2023) The oxford companion to wine. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
MacNeil, K. (2022) The wine bible. New York, NY: Workman Publishing.
Pacina (2024) Rosenthal Wine Merchant. Available at: https://rosenthalwinemerchant.com/growers/pacina/ (Accessed: 03 December 2024).
The Vine Agency (No date). Available at: https://thevineagency.ca/portfolio/italy/tuscany/pacina (Accessed: 03 December 2024).
Wine & Spirit Education Trust (2021) D3: Wines of the World - An accompaniment to the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines. Version 1.2. London: Wine & Spirit Education Trust.
Sounds dreamy!