Sequerciani

About usThe Sequerciani Story

Tortelli maremmani

Maremma Ravioli with Ricotta and Spinach

Compared to ravioli produced in Emilia Romagna, Maremma ravioli are decidedly larger. To prepare them, all you need is a simple mixture of ricotta and spinach. A butter and sage sauce makes a beautiful compliment to the delicate taste of the tortelli. Otherwise, they can also be served with a wild boar meat sauce, which is very typical of the region.

Preparation

Add the salt and egg to sifted flour, and work the mixture until the dough is homogeneous, then leave the dough to sit for 15 minutes. In the meantime, parboil the spinach leaves (without adding water, if they are already wet). Mash the ricotta with a fork and mix in the spinach. Add salt and nutmeg, mixing everything together. After having created a thin layer pasta, flour your worktable to keep the pasta from sticking. Afterwards, fold the pasta closed with the empty half of the pasta, and use a fork to press down on the edges to close each ravioli. Finally, drop your ravioli in boiling salted water for several minutes.

Buon appetito!

Ingredients (feeds 9–10 people)

For the pasta:

500 g of flour
5 to 6 eggs (if the eggs are particularly large add more flour)
Salt
Olive oil as needed

For the filling:

250 g of spinach
300 g of ricotta
Nutmeg
Salt

A Local RecipeTortelli «marciapiedi»

Welcome!

By Maria Stebler

There is nothing more enjoyable than welcoming guests.

Are you happy, in a good mood and ready to enjoy your more than well-earned vacation in full relaxation mode? When you are a guest in our house, it comes as second nature to me to concern myself with your every wish, whether small or large, and to do everything possible to satisfy your desires. My goal is to make sure you are both happy and satisfied.

And then, towards the end of your vacation when are you beginning to feel a bit sad with thoughts of your soon to be departure, if I can, I will console you with thoughts of an imminent return. If I succeed, I will know I have done my job really well!

I have hosted many guests in hotels both large and small, both simple and luxurious, in regions of many different languages: German, English, French and Italian. And I always have the same sensation at the end of a stay: the joy of feeling your satisfaction, is the greatest reward of them all!

We these thoughts in mind, I hope to have the pleasure welcoming you soon with my team of associates!

By Maria SteblerWelcome!

< >

Natural wine? But wine is natural!

The ABC’s of wine.

It is true that wine has a lot to do with nature. Nevertheless, it is and remains part of man’s cultural heritage, and therefore is a child of civilization.

Wine needs the hand of man to transform wild vines into cultivated vineyards and to keep the fermented grapes from becoming vinegar. Man is able to draw on experience. This is how traditions are born and developed, and how progress is made with experience and new knowledge.

In the course of this development, about 40 years ago, the movement for returning to natural wine (vin naturel) crystalized. This movement has matured over the years, and is now taken very seriously in the world of wine.

Modernization and globalization have had a long and a strong influence on the production of wine. To producers who adopt natural methods of making wine, this decisive question comes up: how and to what point should man’s hand push nature in its efforts at domestication?

The question is not simply about ecology and sustainability, the health of consumers and producers, the conservation of the soil or the fertility of the land. Critically, there are also considerations about the authentic expression of a cultivated land and its climate, the conditions of a harvest, and the taste and the wholesomeness of a wine.

Wine is biodynamic… and much more.

The movement began with a group of five French dissidents – “the group of 5” – young winemakers who were mostly from the Beaujolais area. And over time, a network of winemakers, commercial producers and journalists grew beyond the confines of France.

In Switzerland, there are more and more tastemakers who are choosing natural wine, and here too in Italy, more and more professional winemakers are pressing their grapes naturally. Today, natural wines are served in thousands of international restaurants, influencing the world of wine in significant and long-lasting ways.

Natural wine has found a place for itself that it will never lose!

What is natural wine?

The cultivation

The grapes must be cultivated in a biological or biodynamic manner.
The grapes must be cultivated by hand only.

The aging process

The original structure and uniqueness of each grape must be respected. During vinification, all invasive or traumatic technical processes which alter taste must be renounced, such as reverse osmosis (dehydration), tangential filtration, pasteurization, thermovinification, and micro oxygenation.
The natural grape fermentation process must be respected, i.e., spontaneous fermentation by wild yeast present on the grape’s skin and in in the wine cellar must allowed to take place without interference.
There can be no addition of any chemicals, plant or animal, such as chosen yeasts, chosen bacteria, sugaring, or treatments to correct and/or beautify.
Very little or no SO2 can be added: 0 – 30 mg/l for sparkling wines and red wines; 0-40 mg/l for white wines. These amounts are sufficient, regardless of residual sugar content.

Nothing should be added to a natural wine nor removed. Because nothing is added, the wines can also be defined as vegan.

A as in Alcohol

Where does the headache of a hangover come from? As the question implies various factors, there are different possible answers.

With the help of enzymes our liver eliminates alcohol in two stages. In the first stage, the alcohol (ethanol) is oxidized by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) into acetaldehyde, a very toxic substance created that continues to circulate in the blood. In the second stage, with the help of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), the same acetaldehyde is, in turn, oxidized into an innocuous acetate (acetic acid) that the body can easily expel.

The strong headaches from a hangover are therefore attributed to the toxic nature of acetaldehyde.

It has been found that woman tend to tolerate alcohol less well than men because they generally have more body fat. And alcohol dissolves better in water than fat. Thus, given an equal amount of alcohol consumed, ethanol tends to remain in circulation longer for women.

Studies on sleep disturbance have also found that one of the side effects of a hangover is also insomnia. The quality of one’s sleep, is, in fact, effected by the amount of acetaldehyde in one’s body.

The role of free sulfur (sulfites or SO2). An elevated quantity of sulfites added to a wine (more than 50 mg/l), keeps the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) from oxidizing toxic levels of acetaldehyde in the body.

The body’s metabolism also slows down, and the longer a toxic substance circulates in the blood, the worse we feel.

SO2 and oxidation of alcohol in natural wines During the different stages of wine making all, or all most all additions of SO2 are renounced. Some natural winemakers do add minimal quantities of SO2 during the bottling process.

With natural wine there are extremely limited amounts of sulfites added, that is, a maximum of 30 mg/l for red wines (versus up to 200mg/l in traditional wines), and a maximum of 40 mg/l for white wines (versus up to 400 mg/l with traditional wines).

Elevated levels of SO2 (that is, levels more than 50 mg/l) prevent the body’s ALDH enzymes from transforming the toxic acetaldehyde (formed during the oxidation process of alcohol in the blood) into a harmless acetic acid.

This does not happen with natural wines: the non-existent or at least irrelevant amounts of SO2 have no effect on the oxidation process, thus the toxic acetaldehyde is processed and expelled. And so we do not suffer -- and are better able to enjoy the wine!

B as in bouquet

Bouquet and flavor: the link between smell and taste. There are three levels that distinguish the aroma of a wine: the primary aromas are contained within the skin of the grape, the secondary aromas develop in the fermentation phase, and the tertiary aromas develop in the refinement phase (with wooden barrels, wine tanks etc.).

Primary aromas depend essentially on the type of grape and its cultivation. In the case of natural wine, we begin with a healthy grape, grown in a biological or bio-dynamic manner, harvested by hand. The roots of the vines grow deep into the earth, absorbing minerals and nutrients. The leaves and the fruit are allowed to grow and mature freely as they adapt to the climatic conditions. Thus, the wine receives the pure flavor of the grapes.

Secondary aromas are formed during fermentation by yeast and lactic acid bacteria. The natural fermentation process is neither induced (with grown yeasts) nor arrested (with SO2), but rather occurs spontaneously with natural yeasts already present on the grape skins or within the winery. Pure or natural wine have different original ingredients -- outside of fructose, acids, various bacteria and yeasts, colorants (phenol) and tanning agents (tannin), there are also three different types of alcohol: ethanol, methanol (in limited amounts), and the alcohols that are considering more “noble” or “long chain” which give the aroma to the wine.

Using selected yeasts during the fermentation process, the wine is regulated both for aroma and taste. Conventional production adopts this method to “fix” the flavor of a wine (so it will be the same year after year), or to change the wine depending on the fashion of the moment. In contrast, the flavor of a natural wine changes every year, as it is dependent on the particular climactic conditions and the technical details of the year of the harvest.

Tertiary aromas develop while aging inside barrels or bottles. The winemakers of natural wines follow the natural process of wine in the aging process as well. Some age their wines in wooden barrels, other use stainless steel or fiberglass tanks, others use amphorae or concrete tanks. The choice is always determined however by the will to maintain and develop natural aromas.

Natural wines can be stored and aged in bottles for years, with careful attention being given to a wine cellar’s temperature, which should be, if possible, between 14° and 17° degrees.

C as in Chauvet, Jules Chauvet, the father of natural wine

Natural winemakers pursue the production of “beautiful wines with little alcohol and a lot of aroma“, just as was intended for Beaujolais, said “the father of natural wine,” the chemist and winemaker Jules Chauvet, sixty years ago. Just as wines were produced once upon a time. For Chauvet, wine was, above all, “an aroma not an alcohol” – an authentic expression of its territory, every single wine has its own unique aroma, not only in comparison to other wines, but also over the course of its own life: aroma and taste change each year, each day, each moment. To share this vision, it is necessary – argued Chauvet – “to return to the state of nature” (“revenir au naturel”). Thus, the concept of “natural wine” was born.

For the winemakers of natural wine, Chauvet’s instructions represent an enormous challenge that requires very healthy grapes, and also a vast knowledge of wine cellars.

D as in domaine

The term “domaine” means a vineyard, or even better, a farm that cultivates wine – that produces and often sells wine and its derivatives (sparkling wine, brandy, etc.). The winemaker cares for the vineyards, harvests the grapes, and supervises the production and bottling of the final product.

The vineyards are often family businesses of monistic or noble origins. Many vineyards also offer guided tours and tastings in their wine cellars.

Considering that the production of natural wines are so sensitive to differences in quality (relative to other agricultural products), winemakers often tend to identify their vineyards with a brand. In particular, this happens when some factors, such as position, microclimate, conformation of the soil, have a particularly positive effect on the quality of the harvest.

In this regard, the production of natural wine calls for even stricter rules, such as the total renunciation of additives and harmful substances, from the cultivation of the grapes to the bottling of the wine.

I as in Istamine

“Istamina” or histamine in Engllsh, is present in many everyday foods and is also produced naturally by our bodies. It is a substance that is needed in our bodies for its regulatory abilities.

Histamine is also found in fermented red wines, along with other “degraded” by-products. Its production is a normal phenomenon that accompanies the decomposition process, like the one that occurs in the fermentation of wines. The larger the amount of additional (sub) products to the wine during fermentation, the more “degraded” byproducts there are.

When foods are consumed that contain histamine, the enzymes of a healthy body are able to degrade it naturally. The same process occurs with other “degraded” by-products. Unfortunately, the enzymes work first on “degraded” by-products, and only afterwards on histamine – so sometimes the most sensitive consumers can become ill.

P as in Pétillant Naturel

Pétillant naturel, abbreviated “pet nat,” is the most natural method of producing sparkling wine, in other words with the least amount of intervention from external factors.

In short, pet nats are spumanti (or sparkling wines if they are under 3 bar), that, as opposed to champagne, do not require a second fermentation. The still fermenting must (whether in a stainless steel tank, a wooden barrel, a concrete tank, or amphorae) is bottled with residual sugar content and capped under pressure. It is under the crown cap that the carbon dioxide develops thereafter.

Generally, yeast is left in the bottle and discharges are rare. Today, most pet nats are “sur lie” (on the yeast), and have a longer storage time. This method is customarily defined as the “méthode ancestral” or ancestral method (in the sense that its origins are from a long time ago). In Italy, Prosecco was originally produced in this manner. The “methode ancestral” may seem easy, but the fermentation process within the bottle is actually very hard to control, and there is not a lot of competition among winemakers in Italy who use this process. It was in the 90s in France that ambitious winemakers returned to this style. Today, with the growing interest in and attention to natural wine, there has also been an increase in attention to pet nats. In London, Paris, Copenhagen, Tokyo, and New York, this light wine which naturally contains carbon dioxide, has found a place in a large range of restaurants, not simply high-end ones.

T as in terroir

“Terroir” is a French term without a matching Italian (or English) equivalent. It indicates the set of geological, physical and climactic conditions of a defined area in which a vine grows. The term used to be used to also designate a region and its typical culinary products (cheeses, meats, oil, etc.).

Most of us know what “terroir” is, even if we do not know of the term itself. Take for example the berries and wild fruits and other agricultural products of a pristine land of a specific geological area with a particular climate or soil – or also, the fresh unpasteurized milk of cows grazing in the Alps.

Terroir and viticulture. When France in the 1930s began to classify the locations of vineyards, the term “terroir” began to be used in winegrowing – referring to the combination of climate and soil that can be ascertained by certain obtainable objective factors:

Solar energy (irradiation, duration of irradiation)
Temperature (nighttime and daytime temperatures)
Soil surveys (permeability)
Geology (slope and conformation of the land)
Soil moisture (quantity and distribution of rains)

Interpretation and production of wine. As mentioned before, there is not an exact translation for “terroir”. Depending on the interpretation, the term is also not necessarily limited to refer only to nature’s influences, but also can include factors produced by the cultural activities of man. In general, for winemakers, this is a standard factor. However, for natural winemakers, this is a particularly critical factor.

A bitter aftertaste. There is no denying that today, the term “terroir” has become a marketing concept. In fact, it is sometimes overused and, at times, degenerates into an empty symbol of “quality,” and used without scruples around the world. even for industrial products.

For the tastemaker therefore, it is even more important to understand the exact origins and types of cultivation and winemaking.

Z as in zolfo (sulfur)

Free SO2 in natural wine Grapes naturally contain traces of sulfur. In the traditional production process, during vinification, there is a step that includes the addition of free sulfur to the grape juice, so that the wine can adapt to any temperature. In natural red wines, the added free sulfer is limited to a maximum of 30 mg/l (versus up to 200 mg/l for traditional wines), while for natural white wines the maximum is 40 mg/l (versus 400 mg/l for traditional whites).

When wine has a high amount of free SO2, the body enzyme ALDH can not transform the toxic acetaldehyde during the oxidation of alcohol into a harmless acetate acid.

Not so with natural wine: the complete lack of, or minimal amount of SO2 does not affect the body in this way, therefore the toxic acetaldehyde is processed and expelled. We do not suffer from the wine, and instead we can handle and enjoy even more of it!

Useful InformationEverything you need to know about natural wine

Basmati Blues

released in the US Theatres February 9th, 2018

Directed by: Danny Baron

Produced by: Monique Caulfield, Jeffrey Soros and Ruedi Gerber

“Charming, Bollywood-influenced romantic comedy” – Yahoo! Entertainment

See the trailer HERE

More about the Movie HERE

Basmati Blues, featuring Academy Award Winner Brie Larson & Donald Sutherland, starts in the US Theatres on February 9th, 2018

This enchanting musical romantic comedy stars Oscar® winner* Brie Larson as Dr. Linda Watt, a sheltered young scientist whose company CEO (Oscar® winner** Donald Sutherland) orders her to India to sell farmers the GMO rice that she created. There Linda meets Rajit (Utkarsh Ambudkar), a rebellious college student forced to drop out for lack of funds. Through his playful and often infuriating antagonism, Linda learns she has unwittingly aided a destructive plan against the farmers she was supposedly sent to help. A passionate battle erupts and the future rests on whether Linda and Rajit can quit arguing long enough to admit they love each other and save the day.

Pulsing with the vibrant colors and rhythms of India, this captivating film features original songs written by global artists Pearl Jam, Sugarland, Sid Khosla (of Goldspot), Dave Baerwald, and Sonu Nigam. Boasting a fantastic ensemble cast, Basmati Blues is a love letter to multiple eras of thrilling Bollywood cinema, heart-stirring musicals, and indelible classic Hollywood romantic comedies!

Directed by: Danny Baron
Written by: Danny Baron and Jeffrey Dorchen
Story by: Danny Baron, Jeffrey Dorchen and Danny Thompson
Produced by: Monique Caulfield, Jeffrey Soros and Ruedi Gerber
Executive Music Producers: Bonnie Greenberg and Christy Gerhart
Original Score by: Steven Argila
Choreographer: Noemie Lafrance

Film tipsBasmati Blues released in the US Theatres February 9th, 2018

< >

An excursion to the mysticism of Chiusdino

A mystical tour in the hills

Warning: the original protagonist of this legend was not really King Arthur, but our local knight and hero Golgano Guidotti. He was not born in medieval England but in Tuscany. The theater of history is only 20 km from Sequerciani, nestled in an idyllic hilly landscape. Go there and check or yourself!

This is the story of the legend:

There once was a young man, Galgano, from a rich and noble family, born in 1148 in Chisudino Tuscany. His life was marked by disorder and lawlessness, the fighting of useless battles and many amorous adventures.

One day when he was out riding, his horse became frightened and threw the young man off: none other than the archangel Michael, the patron saint of Chisudino, had appeared right in from of him!

Under the saint’s protection, our reckless youth was led to a hill close to his birthplace. Here, he was asked to renounce a life spent far from the ways of God: “It is easier to stick a sword in a stone than to do what you ask of me” apparently were the words of Galgano. And venturing to prove his point, he swung his sword - and yet somehow the sword entered easily into the rock in front of him. Thus the miracle occurred, our hero took heart and Monte Siepi became his hermitage – where he lived in poverty together with wild animals until his death in 1181. Four years later he was proclaimed a saint.

Afterwards, the Bishop of Volterra gave Monte Siepi to Cistercian Monks, who built the church of Monte Siepi on the top of the hill, originally with red and white strips. It is also where Galgano’s sword can still be found stuck in a rock -- we highly suggest it as the destination for a short beautiful walk. The monks later built the Gothic Abbey of San Galgano at the foot of the hill.

One of the most evocative and refreshing places in all of Tuscany is here: the ruins of the San Galgano abbey, which has been reduced to only walls and lies in the quite countryside, surrounded by fields and cypresses. Its roof collapsed a long time ago – and standing in the middle of it with its open sky, you can not help but experience the magic of the place.

On the road back, a narrow lane leads up a hill towards Chiusdino, the birthplace of Golgano. The village has the characteristics of a film set, with its narrow, torturous alleys that wind picturesquely up through the different “levels” of the village. But the best part about wandering through this labyrinth is entering the church of of San Michele -- where, barely attracting any attention is preserved a most valuable relic: the skull of San Galgano!

After such a scare, you will be in need of some cheer, and, as it will likely be getting darker, something to eat as well. All that remains for you to do, is it too take the picturesque roads in the direction of Tatti, where -- after a visit through the village’s small medieval center – the “Barrino” restaurant welcomes you. Guests there can enjoy Tuscan delicacies prepared by Dario and taste the natural wine of Sequerciani, while seated on the restaurant’s terrace with its amazing views of the hills and the sea beyond. What more could one ask for?

Daytrip route: Sequerciani – Perhaps starting with some morning shopping in Massa Marittima – San Galgano Abbey, following the road towards Siena – Short walk up to Monte Siepi – Returning back with a stop in Chiusdino – Finishing at the “Barrino” in Tatti.

Our regionA mystical tour
in the hills

< >

Biological and dynamic

In harmony with nature

In 1992, Ruedi Gerber acquired Sequerciani, with its eight hectares of abandoned land, and decided to invest in its future by implementing the techniques of organic agriculture. Collaborating fruitfully with his neighbor, the specialized consultant Wolfgang Scheibe, his goal was realized by exploiting the soil in a biodynamic way.

Later, in 2005, Ruedi Gerber obtained more farmland nearby, filled with olive trees, fruit trees and vegetable gardens. Wonderful land, bordered by a forest, that had not been worked for years but had been traditionally farmed in the past. Thanks to the groundwork laid with constant biodynamic sprays, such as Cornoletame and horn silica, and to the first harvesting attempts, the olive groves turned healthy and productive again in 2008.

And since 2009, large areas in vicinity of the manor house have been turned into vineyards. Micro-climates have been created to help invigorate the crops with mixtures of green manure – herbs that have been planted between the rows, destined to became natural fertilizer. If covered and rooted well, these mixtures reinvigorate the soil and decrease the risk of erosion. The flourishing green manure also stimulates the proliferation of insects, including the “Sequerciani” bee population. Thus, thanks to the harmonious balance of the world around them, the crops are able to avoid partial pest infestations.

Nearby, there is a free range animal farm with Chianina calves whose manure is an indispensable source of agricultural fertilizer. The farm and its dunghill work regularly to prepare biodynamic organic fertilizer. It favors a pre-maturation of the prepared dung , even before it is spread in an area or re-added to another compost.

In 2014, Sequerciani officially received Demeter certification. In the same year, more lands were acquired in the extremely fertile plains nearby, ensuring the availability of even more healthy cultivatable lands. At one time farmed in a traditional manner, the lands are now fertilized organically, treated with extraordinary attention, and the soil is prepared to support quality crops certified by Demeter. The health and vitality of the crops will continue to increase as the soil continues to be reinvigorated. It is a process that has many positive effects on wine production and other agricultural products, if the necessary urgency is maintained in cultivating these wonderful fruits of the earth.

Biodynamic agriculture endeavors to have a global outlook on the earth’s development within the planetary system and in particular on future agricultural activities. The objective is to sustain the evolution of all vital environmental forces, flora and fauna – and can be achieved if this “rejoining” is done in a conscious, knowledgeable manner.

For biodynamics, life that is born of the land is a holistic system, so that farming should be understood as an interconnected organic process, in which humankng, animals, plants and the land work in harmony to unleash its vital forces. Agricultural work on the land is part of this development, and with the help of farmers, the potential of a land can be fully expressed. Although self-regulating, an organism always needs the world around it and is never fully realized. The short history of Sequerciani’s biodynamic life also has great challenges ahead of it, and the farm in its continuous evolution, will meet its challenges with enthusiasm.

In 2016, Sequerciani with its 52 hectares, provided a healthy part of the products produced by the 9,300 total hectares cultivated according to biodynamic methods in Italy overall, while earning organic and biodynamic certification at the same time. The products are registered with the Demeter trademark, which is awarded annually after careful monitoring for compliance with guidelines: a guarantee that Sequerciani’s products meet the highest of quality requirements.

AgricultureBiological and dynamic

Natural wines fairs

Next events

Sequerciani is delighted to participate at the upcoming fairs. The dates are as follow:

March 2018

Slow Food Market, Bern (CH), March 2nd to 4th

www.slowfoodmarketbern.ch

Raw Wine Fair, London (UK), march 11th and 12th

www.rawwine.com

Wein Salon Natürel, Cologne (DE), March 17th and 18th

www.weinsalonnaturel.com

***

April 2018

VinNatur Villa Favorita, Verona (IT), April 14th to 16th

www.vinnatur.org

***

May 2018

Raw Wine Fair, Berlin (DE), May 13th and 14th

www.rawwine.com

Prior shows in which Sequerciani has participated:

2017

RAW WINE, Los Angeles (USA), November 12th and 13th 2017, www.rawwine.com
RAW WINE, New York (USA), November 5th and 6th 2017, www.rawwine.com
BIODYN 501 - The Organic Wine Fair, Monaco (DE), May 7th and 8th 2017, www.501biodyn.de
VINNATUR Villa Favorita, Verona (IT), April 8th to 10th 2017, www.vinnatur.org
WEIN SALON NATÜREL, Cologne (DE), March 18th and 19th 2017, www.weinsalonnaturel.com
RAW WINE, London (UK), March 12th and 13th 2017, www.rawwine.com

2016

RAW WINE, Berlin (DE), 27 Novembre 2016, www.rawwine.com
VINNATUR, Roma (IT), 12 - 14 Novembre 2016, www.vinnatur.org
EATALY WINE FESTIVAL, Il Vivaio Roma Ostiense (IT), 12 e 13 Novembre, www.eataly.net
WEIN SALON NAT REL, Colonia (DE), 18 e 19 Marzo 2016, www.weinsalonnaturel.com
PRO WEIN, Düsseldorf (DE), 13 - 15 Marzo 2016, www.prowein.it

Natural Wine Fairs 2018
VINNATUR VILLA FAVORITA April 14th - 16th in Verona (IT)

< >

The harvests

The threshing and the grape harvest

In July, we harvested our “Grani Antichi”, these are our durum wheat Senatore Cappelli and our common wheats (Verna and other lesser ones). We are continuing to increase the range in our seed bank, for our future sowing and to be able to have a role as promoters and witnesses for young bio-farmers in the area. We then cleaned the harvested wheat and sent it to the mill to make our flours and our pasta.

We harvested our grapes between the end of August and mid-September, earlier than in other years: first we picked the Vermentino grapes, then the Aleatico red grapes and lastly the aromatic Fogliatonda variety. What kind of harvest was it? A tough one, due to the drought and the great heat. The way the vines suffered risked ruining the grapes, especially the balance between the main organoleptic components: sugar, acidity and pH.

Thanks to their excellent work, careful monitoring of the vineyards and short periods of irrigation, Marco Verniani and his staff have brought an amazing quality to the wine cellar.

Fermentations started spontaneously straightaway, completely transforming the sugars and exalting the aromas and perfumes that characterise all the wines from the 2017 harvest. Gionni and Chiara have had a lot of work to do in the wine cellar, to keep the temperatures low in spite of the fierce summer heat: they used old wine cellar keep methods such as “delestage” and newly improvised methods such as wet sheets over the doors and windows.

News from the CountryThe harvests: the threshing and the grape harvest

Video clipSequerciani
from the air

< >

Tales from Sequerciani

The Let It Be Summer Fest

Summer in Sequerciani had its most important moment during the 3-day Let It Be Summer Fest.

The Trio David Sautter, Letizia Fiorenza & Maria Rebecca Sautter (Beatles reloaded), Greta Panettieri-s jazz band and the Maggerini di Tatti choir thrilled the participants waiting to see the Maestro Abdullah Ibrahim and Ekaya band perform: goose bumps amidst the surreal silence of the garden, and the magical view of the Maremma behind the piano.

The Round Table: natural wines and biodynamic agriculture

Sequerciani organised and hosted an interesting “round table” entitled “Does the agriculture of the future look to the past? “ with expert guests such as Alois Lageder (president of Demeter Italia, www.demeter.it), Angiolino Maule (president of the Vinnatur association www.vinnatur.org ), Paola Pozzoli (manager of the Eataly winery www.eataly.com), Angelo Gentili (secretary of Legambiente www.legambiente.it), as well as the internationally-acclaimed reference for natural wine producers, Isabelle Legeron (www.rawwine.com).

As all our friends know well, Sequerciani is very sensitive to these topics, which sometimes cause problems for large-scale red tape: that is why we brought the producers’ associations together around the table, making for a powerful green lobby including Legambiente and the commercial world. They spoke of regulations, quality standards, type of control and market opportunities.

Many aspects linking biodynamic agriculture and natural wine-making were looked at during the day, in addition to the relationship between protecting the land and landscape, consumer health and the quality of final products. These topics are all extremely important and allowed us to examine future problems and prospects. We hope this appointment can become a regular one in the future, to be able to exchange views and experiences.

Tales from SequercianiThe Round Table and the Let It Be Summer Fest

< >

10th April 2018: wine and olive oil tasting at Kosmos

We are glad to present our natural wines - only grapes, sun and earth -and our extra virgin olive oil (Demeter certified) the 10th of April from 5 pm to 9 pm in KOSMOS in Zurich:

Tasting: Kosmos regional

Place: KOSMOS Kultur / Forum, Lagerstrasse 104, 8004 Zürich

Our wines Vermentino, Libello (blend of Sangiovese and Ciliegiolo), Foglia Tonda, Pugnitello and Aleatico (passito) as our Olive oil (harvest2017) can be tasted and ordered. Our products are grown biodynamic and are Demeter certified.

Natural wine is our passion!

«Nur Natur. Wir tun nichts dazu und nehmen nichts weg. Wir lassen die Trauben wachsen, die Maische gären, den Wein reifen. Wir begleiten diesen natürlichen Prozess mit Achtung und Sorgfalt. Ohne Zusätze, ohne filtern. So entsteht unser Demeter-zertifizierter Wein aus biologisch-dynamischem Anbau»

We look forward to welcoming you in Kosmos or directly in Sequerciani!
Warm regards from the Sequerciani-Team & Ruedi Gerber

Sequerciani Svizzera
Binzstr. 23, CH-8045 Zürich
+41 (0)44 340 03 43 / +41 79 170 64 54
vertrieb@sequerciani.ch / www.sequerciani.it

Kontakt	Podere Sequerciani Strada Provinciale Tatti 58023 Gavorrano (GR) Toscana • Italia tel +39 0566 028053 email info@sequerciani.it
Bild- und Filmrechte	© Dolores Rupa, CH-Chur © Ruedi Gerber © ZAS Films
Gestaltung	Dolores Rupa, CH-Chur
Webdesign & Programmierung	tipic, CH-Savognin