Adega do Vulcão
Gianni Mancassola and Cinzia Caiazzo visited the Azores for the first time in 2008 and immediately fell in love with the extreme landscape and remarkable climate.
08/08/2022
Chiara Condello
Location: Italy
A shining star of Emilia-Romagna! Chiara is a dynamic and young winemaker breathing new life into the region’s ancient viniculture. She is keenly aware of her position as the keeper of a centuries-old winegrowing heritage in the Predappio hills, as well as an innovator, creating a modern interpretation of the unique terroir.
Having traded her economics career for the vineyard, she meticulously manages her 4.8-hectare estate, focusing on Sangiovese di Predappio. Chiara’s focus on vine health yields mature, balanced grapes that require no cellar corrections. Her resulting wines are pure, authentic representation of her land and methodology.
Chiara Condello – Le Lucciole was born from the awareness of being the keeper of a centuries-old winegrowing history in the Predappio hills, and from her desire to offer a revolutionary interpretation of this unique and generous land. Chiara works with a clear concept in mind: to produce a Sangiovese that truly reflects the high potential of her land, shedding everything that isn’t essential. Her goal is a wine that perfectly aligns with her winemaking philosophy.
She has chosen a small plot near a forest, located in the heart of the Predappio appellation, at an elevation of 150 to 300 meters above sea level. The vines here are deeply rooted in poor calcareous-clay soils, rich in pliocenic sandstones known as Spungone. This unique terroir, formed over 3 million years ago when this region was submerged by a sea, is where Chiara began her journey to produce a wine that is the pure expression of this exceptional place.
Chiara follows a clear and consistent path: organic viticulture, with a deep respect for the plants and the soil. Her approach includes manual work, organic fertilization, mechanical weeding, and a very low use of sulphur and copper for pest control. For Chiara, the key to making great wine starts with ensuring the vines are healthy and balanced.
She believes that before being a good winemaker, it’s crucial to have healthy vineyards. That’s why she tends to the vineyards every day, with the goal of harvesting grapes that are mature and healthy—grapes that don’t require any corrections once they reach the cellar.
The harvest at Le Lucciole is entirely manual, and the cellar work follows the principle of respecting the grapes and allowing the Sangiovese to dictate its own rhythm. Fermentation vats are filled by gravity, and Chiara avoids anything that could lead to standardization in her winemaking process. This approach preserves the natural diversity of the wine, including the use of indigenous yeasts, very minimal temperature control, and long maceration periods.
The aging process occurs in Slavonian oak barrels, with the wine being bottled without filtration. The result is a wine that expresses its terroir in its truest form, completing its journey in the bottle with the patience and respect it deserves.
