A Visit to the Tuscan Harvest with Silvia Badii of Il Colle

It’s hard to believe we are already in September and across many regions in the world that means harvest time!  I was contacted by the owner of Il Colle, Silvia Badii, to sample some of her wines and was fortunate to also get to facetime with her during the harvest season and get a one-on-one look into what the harvest season looks like at Il Colle. 

Silvia Badii

Meet & Greet with Silvia Badii 

Unfortunately our video and audio didn't line up on the interview to share, but Silvia shared some great pictures of her winery.  

Il Colle is located in the province of Florence within Tuscany in one of the communes of Chianti Classico known as San Casciano in Val di Pesa.  San Casciano is the northern most commune within the Chianti Classico territory and is the largest UGA, unita geografiche aggiuntive, or site designation within Chianti Classico.  

Sourced from San Casciano Classico

The Il Colle estate was originally owned by the Corsini family until it was purchased in 1983 by Silvia's father.  The house is a 16th century farm house built from stones located within the vineyard.  It's located on Via Cassia, the ancient famous road that connects Florence to Rome.  You can see the farm house on Il Colle's labels.

Silvia’s father, whom I had the chance to meet on our chat, had been making Chianti Classico for 40 years with Sangiovese grapes and other local Tuscan grape varietals.  He had always produced wine and sold it in bulk until 2018 when Silvia took over the estate and started to bottle on her own since her father was aging.  She had originally come from a background in fashion, but had always assisted her father with the grape and olive harvest since she was a child.  Today she is currently on the board of the San Casciano Classico Association that consists of about 31 winemakers that are part of the association with other producers within the commune of San Casciano.  

Silvia walked me through the vineyards consisting of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese grapes.  Her biggest vineyard is 4.5 acres with her Gran Selezione single vineyard of Sangiovese covering 6,000 square meters.  She also has 5 hectares of olive groves and 3 hectares of forests totaling 13 hectares of land.  The soil is predominantly made up of albarese, which provides great drainage for the vines that are guyot trained.

Sangiovese grapes at Il Colle

Silvia's first bottlings were released in 2019, the Il Colle Annata DOCG and the 2019 Gran Selezione.  In 2020, after harvest, she decided to uproot some of the vineyards with new plantings except the Sangiovese vines that were planted in 2006 that are used for her single vineyard Chianti Classico Gran Selezione wines. 

Silvia was in hopes to harvest her Merlot grapes this weekend with Sangiovese to follow in the next 7-10 days followed by her Cabernet Sauvignon grapes last.  Typically she will harvest the Gran Selezione Sangiovese grapes first, but it depends on the ripening.  Last year was the first year she produced a Super Tuscan made of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that she hopes to release in the next year or two as it's currently aging in oak.   

Il Colle vineyards

The Wines

The 2021 Il Colle Chianti Classico DOCG is made from 100% Sangiovese grapes. Silvia ages this wine for 1 year in concrete and 1 year in oak plus at least 6 months in the bottle.  For a Chianti Classico the regulations mandated by the consorzio is to age these wines for a minimum of 12 months, but Silvia ages hers more like a Chianti Classico Riserva with over 24 months of aging.  

Concrete tanks

This wine was ruby red in color with medium translucency.  Dried cherry aromas on the nose with some black licorice and herbal notes.  Medium-bodied with bright acidity and moderate tannin with tobacco and cedar notes leading towards the finish.  ABV 13.5% SRP 23 euro

The 2019 Il Colle Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 36 Filari is also made from 100% Sangiovese from a single vineyard on Silvia's property that are 17 year old vines.  The wine is named 36 Filari because this single vineyard contain 36 rows of vines.  The wine is aged 18 months in oak and 1 year in concrete with at least 6 months.  She only produced 800 bottles of this wine since it was her 1st vintage of producing wine and therefore her 1st year of making a Gran Selezione.  A typical wine production for her is 5,000 bottles with 2,000 bottles making up the Gran Selezione and 3,000 bottles of the Chianti Classico annata, or vintage, wine.   

This wine was ruby in color with some crimson with a medium translucency.  Beautiful aromas of dried cherry and spice.  Dry and medium-bodied on the palate with good acidity and notes of cherry, olive and tobacco.  Rather silky tannin with a lengthy finish.  ABV 14% 39 Euro.

Wine Pairing with Chianti Classico

I paired both of Silvia's wines with some grilled broccoli rabe and cheese sausage along with some mixed in grilled zucchini alongside a creamy polenta.  Polenta is definitely one of those dishes that I forget about, but that is so easy to make.  

What is polenta?  If you're aren't familiar with polenta, it is an Italian dish made from cornmeal that is prepared by boiling it, but it can be served in a variety of styles.  Here I made it as a creamy version drizzled with Silvia's Il Colle extra virgin olive oil and topped with shredded pecorino.  You can also serve it fried, grilled or baked.  

I find that grilled meats always pair well with Chianti Classico and this particular sausage didn't have too much of a kick or else those nuances can sometimes intensify the heat on the wine. 

Silvia's father mentioned during our conversation "siamo pronti per la vendemmia", we are ready for the harvest!  Best of luck for a great harvest to Silvia and her team and the rest of the wineries during this harvest season.

Silvia currently works with one importer in Georgia, but is looking for other importers.  She does sell direct to consumer though along with her Chianti Classico DOP Tuscan olive oil, which she will be harvesting that green goodness mid to late October.  Silvia has future aspirations to open agritourism and possibly a restaurant.  I look forward to following Silvia on her journey for years to come.

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*These wines were provided as samples, but opinions are always my own.