Colombaia is a Biodynamic winery in Colle Val d’Elsa in Siena province in the Tuscany region of Italy.
Owner: Dante Lomazzi (whose mother owned the estate) and Dante’s wife Helena Variara.
Background: Dante Lomazzi’s great grandfather was a wine merchant involved in mass production of wines made of red wine and vermouth. When Dante’s father took over the family business, he changed direction and in 1974 bought an abandoned farm and vineyard in the Chianti area, Azienda Agricola Colombaia. The house was used for as a communication post, using doves (‘una colomba’). Renato from Podere Casanuova rented their vines for a bit, now Dante and his wife Helena Variara (born in Brazil; aged seven she started school in Florence) are going it alone. Dante’s family still own the house, but Dante and Helena renovated the winery. Dante and Helena’s first vintage was 2003 – a tough first year they told me.
Fratelli Lomazzi (as Dante’s great-grandfather’s company was known) bought a small warehouse at Milazzo port. Here, wine was produced and stored in barrels while awaiting the sailing ships to Genoa.The post war period (1919) saw Carlo and Giovanni’s sons entering the company.
This was the generation of Dante’s grandfather, Dante, who I am named after. A real leader under whom Fratelli Lomazzi established bases in Puglia, which had in the meanwhile become one of the best wine-producing areas of Italy.
Family expansion to include our cousins would suggest the change in the company name Fratelli Lomazzi, wine merchants, now became Vinicola Lomazzi, in Milano; with bases in Puglia (Novoli and Grottaglie) whicht became important wine-making centres. A company fleet of railway tanks accomplished the task of transportation. On the eve of World War II, Vinicola Lomazzi also established bases in the province of Modena in Emilia region Emilia. Here, low grade wines and red blending wines were produced. The war brought a painful digression. With the allies occupying the south, Novoli and Grottaglie remained out of control and we forged ahead with only Milan and Carpi.
The 1950s brought development and success for Vinicola Lomazzi, to the point where we became one of the most important Italian companies for wine wholesale and suppliers to the most important bottlers. Then, Italian wine-growing gradually changed. Mass wine production was taken over by co-operative wine cellars and a heavily structured company like my grandfather Dante’s no longer had reason to exist. Dante’s father, Piero, took over from my grandfather in the seventies and set about transforming and diversifying the company. He bought a small agricultural company in Siena which produced Chianti and white wine.
On the eve of the third millennium, I found myself continuing this wine-making tradition. After four generations providing constant commitment, it has finally reached a production of limited quantity, aimed at continuous qualitative production,’ says Dante Lomazi.
Vineyards: 2009 2ha of Sangiovese, around 1ha of Trebbiano and Malvasia Bianca, and around 1ha of Canaiolo. Replanting 1ha of Sangiovese, Colorino and Cabernet (the oldest vines had been Cabernet Sauvignon, but they were grubbed up after the 2008 harvest). Also Malvasia Nera. | 2011 4ha (10 acres). 220 metres. Calcareous clay. All cordone speronato.
Biodynamics: 2019 Member of Renaissance des Appellations.
Organic Certification: 1980 Organics begins. | 1999 First vintage with full organic certification. | 2005 Started with Biodynamics. | 2008 Demeter Italia Biodynamic certification for the first time.
Winery: Have large botti, cement tanks (submerged cap), four 26hl Austrian foudres (Dante’s father lives in Austria. They cost €4,000 each), and small steel tanks. Gravity bottling. No oenologist – Dante’s father taught him to make wine. They use the lab in Poggibonsi for analyses.
Production: 2011 10,500 bottles annually.
Sparkling wines
Colombaia Ancestrale Bianco
Toscana Bianco Frizzante: 2008 Trebbiano & Malvasia. No added sulfites. Nice rustic fizz at the winery on 12th Sept 2009 with Steve and Sarah Walter.
Colombaia Ancestrale Rosato
Toscana Rosato Frizzante: Sangiovese, Colorino, Malvasia Nera, Canaiolo. No added sulfites.
White wines
Toscana Bianco DOC, Colombaia: 2011 Trebbiano Toscano, Malvasia. ‘Some skin contact, 22mg/l sulfites,’ (Isabelle Legeron MW: 2014, p.166).
Toscana Bianco: 2008 Trebbiano & Malvasia (hit by rain at flowering, so less Malvasia than normal in the blend). 2,000 bottles. Sold to Aubert & Mascoli in the UK. Nice and mealy, decent weight at the winery on 12th Sept 2009 with Steve and Sarah Walter. €10 retail.
Red wines
Toscana Rosso, Colombaia: 2003 Dante and Helena’s first vintage. Quite a rich, crisp red, not bad at the winery on 12th Sept 2009 with Steve and Sarah Walter. | 2007 80% Sangiovese, 10% Malvasia Nera, 5% each Canaiolo & Colorino. Aged in Slavonian oak vats (26hl).
Toscana Rosso, Colombaia Vigna Nuova: 2007 Sangiovese, Colorino, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. Quite tannic at the winery on 12th Sept 2009 with Steve and Sarah Walter. Dante said the 2007 was more tannic than 2008 due to the Cabernet, and the dry season made for small berries. | 2008 Sangiovese, Colorino (no Cabernet). 13%. 2,000 bottles. Lovely and fresh at the winery on 12th Sept 2009 with Steve and Sarah Walter. | 2009 97% Sangiovese, 3% Colorino. Stainless steel. 4,000 bottles.
Contact
La Colombaia
Mensanello 24
53034 Colle Val d’Elsa (SI), Italy
Tel+39 (0)577.972835 | Website www.colombaia.it
Directions
Take the exit for Monteriggioni on the Siena-Firenze dual carriageway (4 corsie). Follow direction Colle Val d’Elsa, after the Bar dell’Orso strada che scende sulla destra dopo il rettilineo si trova una strada sula sinistra direzione STROVE ABBADIA ISOLA. Follow this road (pretty, hills, keep doing and do not turn off). At the end of this road there is a crossing at which Colle Val d’Elsa is indicated on the right and Follonica and Ponte Santa Giulia on the left. Right after the bridge there is a road to Mensanello, Casole d’Elsa. Salire qualche curva, poi un breve rettilineo. Sulla destra una cipressa e difronte verso sinistra un Muro di Cinta con Casella di postarosso. Da li a sinistra parte una strada sterrata che porta alla Colombaia.
Bibliography
Isabelle Legeron MW, Natural Wine, An introduction to organic and biodynamic wines grown naturally (2014, Cico Books, London & New York), p.166.