Travel

Castello di Querceto: castle, people and wine
«Vinnaya Karta» №7(88) September 2007

A thousand years ago longobards built Quercieto castle at the southern approach to Florence.

In the middle of the 18th century the French aristocratic family of Francois settled in Tuscany. Two unconnected narrative lines became one story when the Francois bought Castello di Querceto in 1897.

High wooded hills with vineyards, olive groves and stone buildings — this is a typical Chianti Classico landscape which seems to have existed since the creation of the world. Here lies Castello di Querceto, once an important military outpost that is now encircled by an almost inaccessible strip of woods and where rows of vines and olive trees take the patches of open space. Strict vineyard geometry, though, was drawn not long ago, and the castle became centre of winemaking activities only a century ago.

The area where the agricultural lands of Castello di Querceto lie today, previously had a strategic importance as it overlooked the ancient Roman road Cassia Imperiale that remained to be a prominent military and trade route during the Medieval times The first military fortress was built by longobards in the 11th century and served as a watchtower for the valley where the road passed. Five hundred years later during the intestine wars the fortress was erased from the ground, but was later rebuilt by the influential Florentine family of Canigiani. Part of the foundation and old aging cellars have preserved the original thousand-year-old stonework. Before becoming the Francois property, the estate belonged to a number of aristocrats from Florence who used Castello di Querceto as a countryside summer residence.

In the Tuscan context the name of Francois sounds conspicuous as it seems to be another foreign claim for a share in the renowned Italian region. The roots of the family, indeed, originate in France, but the dynasty’s story is inseparably linked to Tuscany for the past 250 years. Antoine Francois came to Italy first. He served at the court of Francis, the Duke of Lorraine who after the death of the last of the Medicis received a title of the Grand Duke of Tuscany and later became the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1745 Francis I dispatched Antoine’s eldest son to Florence to serve as inspector in the excise and contracts office. Jean-Francois, or Giovanni-Francesco, settled in Florence and became founder of the Italian branch of the Francois family. In 1749 Antoine was granted a hereditary Title of Nobility and a family coat of arms. The original emperor’s decree is preserved in the family archives in Castello di Querceto. The ornate coat of arms includes an eagle, stars, mountains, a knight’s helmet and a unicorn’s head. Today it decorates both the interiors of the castle and the labels of wine.

A new page in the history of Castello di Querceto and the Francois dynasty was turned in 1897 when Carlo Francois bought the estate and decided to turn it in a specialised wine enterprise. It was an extraordinary move as up till 1970s the wine in private Tuscan estates was made by sharecroppers who looked at grapes just as at one of several other agricultural products. Francois, on the contrary, specially selected plots for planting vines and introduced progressive methods of work. He treated soils with avant-garde chemical fertilizers back in 1902 (which, in essence, is like modern breakthrough with mobile communication: revolutionary today, its true consequences will be known only by future generations) and was the first in Tuscany to buy a tractor.

His efforts quickly gave returns. Red wines of Castello di Querceto got first awards at the international fairs in Turin and Buenos Aires in 1910 and 1911. In October 1911 Il Chianti newspaper wrote about the second prize at the Argentinean exhibition, “...this new honour conferred on the estate is highly merited not only because of the goodness of the wines exhibited, which are derived from modern processing techniques and new and rational concepts of vinification, but also because the award constitutes just recompense for the intelligent and farseeing labours that Francois has been carrying out to the advantage of Italian agriculture...” In 1924 Castello di Querceto was among the 32 founding estates of the first consortium of Chianti Classico.

Tito, son of Carlo Francois, headed the estate in a difficult period after World War II. General agricultural crisis and the outflow of the workforce which lasted until the end of the 1970s hit hard the activities of the estate, yet Tito managed to implement several projects. Water lines were extended, electricity was installed and around 35 kilometres of trenches were dug for new vineyards.

In the meantime Tito’s son Alessandro graduated from the polytechnic university in Milan and by the end of 1970s was a top manager in a large international company in the field of industrial installations. Having worked in the area of his specialisation for 20 years, Alessandro decided to leave Milan and return to Querceto. Twenty five years ago Castello di Querceto became a permanent place of residence for Alessandro Francois and his family.

He honourably managed the task of transformation of a large winemaking estate and of launching it among leaders of Chianti Classico zone. Initial restructuring involved all major aspects of a winemaking enterprise and lasted for about 5 years. A part of work was directed at planting 45 hectares of vineyards and 10 hectares of olive groves. Old vinification rooms, cellars and storerooms were repaired, also new facilities were built. In early 1980s stainless steel vats were installed in the winery, and French barriques and tonneaux were purchased for the cellar. The third aspect of change was directed at the commercial strategy. Francois made a priority to supply export markets rather than to sell domestically.

One of his most far-sighted decisions was, perhaps, production of single vineyard wines. A narrow north-eastern strip of Chianti Classico that includes Castello di Querceto vineyards is known by a particular soil structure consisting of multi-coloured shale. It is rich in mineral compounds with manganese, iron and alkaline-earth metals. Having made a detailed soil study, Francois singled out plots with unique characteristics, suitable for certain varieties. There is still a limited number of estates in Chianti Classico who have a full understanding of their soils and can present wines from micro-terroirs.

Today Castello di Querceto vineyards are planted in 60 hectares and divided between 26 plots. The largest part is given to Sangiovese, king of Chianti Classico. There are also specialised plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Tuscan Canaiolo, Colorino, Mammolo and Ciliegiolo. Several rows are taken by experimental Syrah, Petit Verdot and other grapes. The estate continues to renew vineyards annually and plans to increase the total acreage to 80 hectares.

Three years ago the final phase of construction was finished in the winery. Now some operations have been transferred to new facilities. In 2006 total production reached 1 million bottles, while the capacity was used only by half. According to Francois, technologies which were considered cutting edge 25 years ago are now outdated, so new vinification tanks with individually mounted computers were recently introduced in the winery.

Total production is divided into two wide ranges — wines from own vineyards and a ‘negociant’ line made of own and bought grapes. The basis of Castello di Querceto range is made of Chianti Classico and Chianti Classico Riserva wines with Sangiovese and a small percentage of autochthonous varieties. Il Picchio, Chianti Classico Riserva from selected plots comes under own entry. The estate also does four ‘cru’ wines which are marked as IGT to differentiate between separate ideas of production.

La Corte is named after a historic Sangiovese vineyard known since the days of Carlo Francois and replanted in 1973. The wines have slow evolution and live for decades. In 1997, to celebrate a centenary of the Francois in Castello di Querceto, a tasting with 16 vintages was organised, including wines of 1904, 1909 and 1935 годов made from La Corte. The participants were impressed by a superb condition of the oldest 1904 vintage which indisputably proved great vineyard’s potential.

The other ‘cru’ wines are Il Querciolaia, a blend of two thirds of Sangiovese and one third of Cabernet Sauvignon; Cignale, based on Cabernet Sauvignon with some Merlot and Il Sole di Alessandro, a pure Cabernet Sauvignon with a powerful, expressive style. The estate also produces sweet Vin Santo and two traditional method sparkling wines Francois 1er and Francois 2me.

Francois does not see problems in having such a wide range of wines as he believes that their success is driven by market demand. “I make wines of high quality, and my biggest controller is consumer”, he says.

Back 25 ago Alessandro staked on international sales and was proved right. Today Castello di Querceto wines are present on five continents including such exotic markets as Venezuela or Vietnam. They are also sold in Russia. About 93 percent of wine is exported — an impressive figure that by far exceeds average quotes for Italy and Chianti Classico.

“A wine’s character depends on soils, microclimates and grapes, but just as much on people”, notes Alessandro Francois. This is also true for success of winemaking estates. Had Castello di Querceto not gotten in the hands of the Francois family, who knows how its modern history would go?