Podere Le Bèrne / Fam. Natalini
Winemaker Andrea Natalini and his nephew Frederico, the budding oenologist at the winery, are the pillars of the family business. But at Le Bèrne, everyone pitches in to make great wines! Wines of excellent quality at fair prices, authentic, warm-hearted, and inviting, just like their producers. Welcome to Italy!
The winery Le Bèrne is located in south Tuscany, in the province of Siena, amidst the beautiful landscape of Montepulciano. The famous Vino Nobile has been produced here since the 14th century. In the 1960s, Egisto Natalini and his son Giuliano decided to vinify the grapes from their vineyards themselves. The winery was founded and it brought new splendour to the Tuscan winemaking tradition. In 1995, Giuliano's son, Andrea, a graduate agricultural engineer, joined the business. Andrea manages all the viticultural operations, supported by the renowned oenologist Paolo Vagaggini.
Red wines from Podere Le Bèrne / Fam. Natalini
from Podere Le Bèrne / Fam. Natalini
The wines are characterised by the family's high-quality standards, their long-standing experience, and their love for their land. Each wine is produced with the utmost care, respecting old traditions from selective harvesting by hand to the ageing of the wines.
The farm covers around 21 hectares in the rolling hills of Cervognano. Ten hectares are planted with vines, three hectares with olive trees. The vines grow at an altitude of 350 metres on Pliocene soils interspersed with stones and shells: ideal conditions for making well-structured, expressive wines. The name of the winery "Le Bèrne" also derives from this outstanding site, coming from the late Etruscan "Verna" or "Verena", meaning hill on which one “hibernates".
Sangiovese, called "Prugnolo Gentile" in Montepulciano, is the most important grape variety of the region and forms the basis for the great Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG as well as for the Rosso di Montepulciano DOC. Excellent wines are also produced from the typical varieties Colorino and Mammolo as well as Malvasia and Pulcinculo, from which the famous Vin Santo is made.
![image00009[1]](/upload/rm/im/ag/image00009-1.webp?_=1709224742000)
![image00023[1]](/upload/rm/im/ag/image00023-1.webp?_=1709224743000)
Producer
Distillerie Tessendier & Fils
Grape growers, producers of Cognac and innovative spirits
“Time is of the essence for creating high-quality spirits” (Jérôme Tessendier)
The Tessendier & Fils Distillery, established in 1880, is a family-run business based in Cognac and Jarnac, on the banks of the Charente, which produces a diverse portfolio of high-quality Cognacs (see Cognac Park) with a modern twist. The heirs, Jérôme and Lilian Tessendier, have succeeded in modernising the family business in the face of the international dimension of the market: first by creating their own brand of Cognac, then by drawing on their ancestral savoir-faire to refine other types of spirits. This knowledge was forged over time, improved from generation to generation and is now shared by the Tessendier Distillery through three Cognac series (Park, Campagnère, Grand Breuil), each with its own unique character, its own history.
Cascina Barisél / Franco Penna
With just 5 hectares, Franco Penna's winery is small but exquisite. The estate near Canelli, east of Alba, comprises only the very best south-facing sites with calcareous soils. Franco's father Enrico, who bought the estate in the 1960s, obviously knew what he was doing.
Dominio de Pingus
The first Pingus was bottled in 1995. This limited production wine from Ribera del Duero made history with a legendary rating from Robert Parker Junior (1998): "One of the greatest young red wines I have ever tasted." The vintage is also at the centre of a somewhat mythical-sounding story – the freighter carrying a quarter of the limited production sank off the Azores, with the wine ending up in Davy Jones's locker at the bottom of the sea.