Podere Le Boncie

Giovanna Morganti Castelnuevo Berardenga Chianti, Tuscany, Italy Giovanna Morganti is a full supporter of the Biodynamic movement in Italy. In the early 2000s, along with luminaries Paolo Bea, Stanko Radikon, Edi Kante, and Giuseppe Rinaldi, she desired change in the Italian DOC system. These growers refused to conform to the industrial standards they believed were eroding the distinctiveness of wines in their region. Inspired by Savennières producer Nicolas Joly, Giovanna and her compatriots were motivated by the goal of providing consumers with a guarantee that the wine in the bottle embodied a specific place, a specific terroir deriving from four simple elements: heat, light, water, and earth. They formed a consortium known as Vine Veri, or “true wine.” Working more for love of her land and the hard work necessary to create her wine, she is not one for accumulating a large band of devout followers. “Winemakers who are truly farmers are often closed and prefer to work in silence,” she asserts; she is dismayed by the way many producers exploit words like tradition and patrimony, because strict adherence to past methods and ideals leaves no room for evolution. Her beliefs are embodied in the one Chianti she crafts from a small parcel near Castelnuovo Berardenga, called Podere Le Bonci, where there just happens to be a patch of terrific Sangiovese.