Personalities

Andrea Paoletti: from Tuscany to Georgia
«Magnum» №4(17) April 2007

A highly demanded consultant in Tuscany, Andrea Paoletti started his career in a cult Tuscan Tignanello estate.

After 15 years of work with Antinori, the agronomist-enologist decided to open an independent consulting bureau. One of his first projects involved replanting vineyards in Ornellaia. Today his client list includes such renowned Italian estates as Isole e Olena in Chianti Classico, Tenute Silvio Nardi and Valdicava in Brunello di Montalcino and Ornellaia, Moris Farms and Caiarossa on the Tuscan coast. Besides Italy, Paoletti also worked in the US. His latest promising project is taking place in Georgia. Andrea Paoletti gave his first Russian interview to Eleonora Scholes.

– In Tuscany Sangiovese is the most important variety. In the nineties we had some difficulties with Sangiovese as the international varieties arrived and the market wanted a more homogenous style of wines. Nowadays the style of wine has changed again. Chianti Classico wines, for example, are returning to a more traditional, Sangiovese driven style. I love also international varieties like Cabernet and Merlot, but for the wine of Chianti Classico the style must really show the character of Sangiovese.

In 1981 I started to plant first high density vineyards. Now we know very well that with new clones, with different types of cultivation Sangiovese can be absolutely great — with different styles, with different terroirs, but each one can be really very interesting. It is not easy to work with the variety, however right clones, density of planting, yields per vine can give high quality wines with an absolutely unique personality. This is what I like best — to give own personality to each wine, to each estate. Personality is given by the terroir so we must try to find the best from each terroir. In Tuscany we have so many terroirs — Chianti Classico alone has several. Then you go to Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Montalcino, Maremma. Bolgheri is less good for Sangiovese, but you have great examples on the hills of Pisa. So each area has its own personality and Sangiovese can be a different type of wine in each area.

The second thing — each estate has a great population of Sangiovese inside the vineyards so there is no need to buy the same clone from the market. Winegrowers can separate own clones in the estate. This is another opportunity to give wine a different personality through a different genetic material. So we have terroir, genetic material and, of course, a skill to grow Sangiovese as it is not an easy variety.

– Sangiovese is a difficult variety because it is late harvested. Generally we don’t pick very early, like Merlot or Syrah, for example. It’s very similar to Cabernet Sauvignon in this respect. Sometimes we pick Cabernet Sauvignon a little later than Sangiovese but in the area of Chianti Classico we generally pick late. It often rains in October, so we must try to avoid the rain or reduce its impact on the grapes.

The second problem is that Sangiovese produces a lot. It has big clusters. So we need to find right clones with smaller clusters and this is how genetic selection can help. Also, high density of plantation helps us because in high density vineyards we can reduce clusters’ weight and yields per vine. Sangiovese must be grown really well. If you make a mistake, you have no chance to produce a great wine. With Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot, for example, if you make a little mistake you can still produce a good wine, but with Sangiovese you cannot.

In terms of disease the grape is similar to Pinot Noir. Its main problem is grey rot, so you must have a right canopy management. The light must arrive on the grape indirectly not to damage the clusters and there must be good ventilation. So you need to find a compromise.

Another problem with Sangiovese is that tannins are a little harsh so you must find absolutely right ripening time. If you pick too early, you have high acidity and harsh tannins. To find the best moment of picking is not easy.

– I think Pinot Noir is extremely difficult. Zinfandel and Nero d’Avola are not easy either. Probably Merlot has fewer problems, but you can’t say it’s easy. In 2003 we had problems with Merlot because it was not able to go through a very hot period. If you think of Cabernet Sauvignon, it is a very late picking, so in Tuscany and in Bordeaux you must find the right moment of picking. I don’t believe that there is one easy variety. Each has problems — some more, some fewer. It is more important to find the best variety for your site, for your area. It’s absolutely stupid to think that Merlot gives a great wine everywhere it grows. In the same way we know that if you bring Nebbiolo in the south of Italy or in California you get an incredibly stupid wine. So some varieties are absolutely crazy, but some are able to produce good wine in many places — but not everywhere as one may think.

– I had many. One was Ornellaia. When I arrived in Ornellaia in 1995, the owner said to us, “I want to produce the best wine in the world. This is my goal and I don’t care how much it costs”. We saw how Ornellaia was able to grow year after year. Now Ornellaia has a great reputation, but then we had everything to discover or to improve. We have also built a new mentality because high quality is not only great terroir, but a great team and a great mentality. So this was a really great challenge.

Another incredible project was in the USA. Its aim was to compare Italian varieties in Italy and in two American states — Washington and California. We planted vineyards in different areas. Several universities of the world were involved. Unfortunately, everything was stopped after 11 September. For me it was a big disappointment because the project was absolutely great.

But then, every day you have a challenge. My old dream was to produce my wine and finally it happened in 2003. It’s a little quantity, I produce only 3,000 bottles, but it is my own wine.

– Georgia is the place where wine was born, so for me it was another challenge to go there, to see the local varieties, to check how they are growing. When there was an opportunity, I went immediately without any doubt. I was in Turkey in 2000 and already then thought that the area was close to Georgia and I wanted to look at local varieties and understand how they could get to Europe in the past. Now I have an opportunity to understand it better through a real project, not just words.

I work as a consultant for Badagoni winery. Its main vineyards are located in the east of the country, in Kakheti. I came to Georgia first in October last year, then in December to check pruning. I still need to discover a lot, but I think that Saperavi and Rkatsiteli are very interesting varieties. The problem of mass production mentality is still there and winegrowers not always understand when I suggest something new to improve quality. Nevertheless, they want to produce a good wine and their mentality is gradually changing. The project is a nice challenge and this is what I like most of all.