Fattoria Le Pupille’s next-generation: Piemme & Le Pupille

Fattoria Le Pupille is best known for its Saffredi Super Tuscan, first released in 1989 by Elisabetta Geppetti. Over 30 years later, two of Elisabetta’s children, Ettore and Clara, have a part to play in the ongoing narrative of this important estate in the Maremma, in Tuscany’s southwest.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of Fatorria Le Pupille’s next-generation wines

Piemme & Le Pupille

Ettore and Clara have overseen the creation of Fattoria Le Pupille’s two newest wines: Ettore with ‘Piemme’, 100% Petit Manseng, and Clara with ‘Le Pupille’, 100% Syrah. ‘These two wines are important to me because they fully represent the winemaking philosophy of Fattoria Le Pupille,’ explains Elisabetta.

These two new wines, which stand up to the high standards of the rest of the range, mark not exactly a handing over of the reins but certainly a new chapter in the history of the estate: Le Pupille Syrah’s cool, coastal character includes a portion of amphora-fermented fruit, while Piemme could well become one of Tuscany’s great white wines.

Le Pupille 2016

The new 2016 vintage is only the second vintage of Le Pupille. ‘The idea of making a Syrah began a long time ago,’ says Clara, but Le Pupille is ‘quite a new project’. It’s the result of modern winemaking, combining oak- and amphora-fermented lots sourced from two contrasting vineyard sites.

The 1.5ha Vigna del Palo overlooks the estate and was planted in 2000 on decomposed sandstone soils. It faces east, exposing the vines to morning light, protecting them from the heat of the midday sun. The grapes are fermented in open 500L tonneaux with gentle manual punchdowns up to twice a day. The wine is then racked and matured for 15 months in oak tonneaux.

A 0.5ha plot within the 3ha Pian di Fiora vineyard provides the rest of the Syrah, planted in 2002 on tuffaceous soil close to a river, which provides a cooler micro-climate. The grapes are fermented in large 500L terracotta vessels and macerated for five months on the skins.

Once blended, the wine is matured in a combination of new and second-fill 300L French oak barriques for approximately 12 months. 4,700 bottles produced.

Piemme 2018

Piemme is the estate’s single-vineyard Petit Manseng from the Pian di Fiora vineyard. Its name is a transcription of the Italian for the letters ‘PM’ – or Petit Manseng.

According to Elisabetta, ‘Petit Manseng was originally planted to give more verticality to the Poggio Argentato [the estate’s other white wine],’ and it has been part of that blend since the early 2000s. But the family noted the quality and potential of the Petit Manseng and, in 2014, released the first vintage of Piemme.

Harvested at least one week after the Petit Manseng destined for Poggio Argentato, Piemme is a varietal wine with high alcohol, high acidity, high aromatic content, and plenty of textural richness and power. ‘Acidity plays a key role in the making of a great wine,’ remarks Ettore.

Petit Manseng is naturally high in acidity and sugar – the 2018 reaches 15% alcohol but displays impeccable balance thanks to the razor-edged acidity, which is emphasised by avoiding malolactic fermentation.

Being only the second vintage, the winemaking process is still being fine-tuned and Ettore says that although it is fermented and matured for 15-18 months in new 500L French oak tonneaux, things have changed with the 2020 vintage. 1,200 bottles produced.

Tasting Fatorria Le Pupille’s next-generation wines:

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