For me, the fascination of wine-making lies in the fact that each year you begin your work anew. Everything is always different and always a surprise. Of course you acquire experience over the years, but after every grape harvest, you have to find out what character the new vintage has, how to process it, and what formula you need to put together. Every vintage has its own particular characteristics and its own special quality, and I would like to bring out the unique character of each vintage. It’s a case of 'doing everything right' to produce a first-class taste experience. This is wonderful work! Each year, I tell a new story with our wine, the story of the region it comes from, the climate it grows in and the people who look after it. Only when the right balance is achieved between these ingredients can something very beautiful, something unique, emerge. This is what wine means for me today and this how I like to define the word wine, because it’s just a very vague concept which says nothing about the quality of the liquid in each bottle.
I try to put this philosophy into practice with my wine Luce (light). Light, because it’s a source of life, an energy which awakens and nourishes. It’s the symbol of a new beginning, an idea which makes the spirit glow. Luce is the first wine to be produced from the Sangiovese and Merlot grapes in Tuscan Montalcino. During the long, dry summers, the grapes ripen – the perfect prerequisite for a perfect wine. They maintain a natural structure which allows them to ripen well and be stored for long periods, even until the next generation. The Sangiovese grape is a little 'wild', giving multifaceted full-bodied flavours; the Merlot grape produces elegant, soft, rounded and seductive wines. This is an excellent combination which produces a wine with well balanced aromas and flavours, developed to make a unique and daring wine, never before seen in this region. An amazing piece of innovation which wine connoisseurs will appreciate for its undeniably high quality – achieved in just twenty years. The idea of putting Merlot and Sangiovese together wasn’t driven by the desire to create a wine with international appeal; it was motivated solely by the pure joy of experimentation to find a really unique and innovative wine for the terroir, as an expression of modern viticulture. 'I’ve seen the light – no, better than that, I’ve drunk it – and it was really good.'
Marchese Lamberto Frescobaldi
Lamberto Frescobaldi spent a happy childhood in Tuscany, growing up alongside cows, horses, cats and dogs – and plenty of wine. That’s where his passion for agriculture started. He studied agricultural science at Florence University and California University, Davis – one of the best universities for viticulture and oenology in the world. Today he is president of Marchesi de' Frescobaldi, responsible for modernising the wine-making business which his family have been operating for 700 years in 30 generations. His three children, Vittorio, Leonia and Carlo are also wine enthusiasts and plan to follow in his footsteps.
