We will present at the following:

Prowein, the International Wine and Spirits Fair in Düsseldorf from the 4th to the 6th of March. You can find us and our wines in Hall 3, Stand C49, by Der Feinschmecker.

Terre di Toscana in the beautiful setting of Lido di Camaiore on the Tuscan coast, at the Una hotel on the 11th and 12th of March. Two days of enological and gastronomic delights to which we will taking part with both our wines and our cheeses.

And of course we will be at Vinitaly in Verona from the 25th to the 28th of March, at our usual stand, Hall 8 Stand E5.

We look forward to meeting you and presenting our new products.

A beautiful photographic reportage by our friend and wonderful photographer Enrico Caracciolo

These celebrated words that begin Charles Dickens’s Tale of Two Cities were written in 1859 but are as true of today as they were in their own time.  We, too, find ourselves at a complex period in history: politically, with the fall of old regimes and the rise of new forms of governance; financially, with the disenchantment in large institutions and the emerging power of entrepreneurship in solving local as well as international problems; spiritually, in the well worn phrases of our supposedly morally bankrupt culture that has lost its soul in the pursuit of material wealth.  The ‘season of Light and the season of Darkness’; as it was then, it is now.

But out of the shadows there will always gleam a spark of light. We of Corzano e Paterno are privileged to live this agrarian life.  We are more severely tested by the whims of nature than the fluctuations of the stock market however, like all producers, we are servants of the marketplace.  Appreciating the appetites, tastes and financial possibilities of our clients is essential to the success of the work we do.  But we also have the luxury of being able to pause, to consider, and in the end to please ourselves, to invent a new cheese if the inspiration takes hold or to try a different grape variety, or a different method of olive oil extraction if we thought it could interesting; however loyal we area to traditional methods, we can try new and different ones.  In other words, we can experiment.  This possibility of being able to combine tradition with improvisation is, I believe, at the heart of Corzano e Paterno.  It is what keeps us fresh, spontaneous and curious, despite more than forty years of the farm’s activity.  And a new generation is coming forward with the same dynamic spirit.

Corzano e Paterno:  We have, over the last year and a half, seen a substantial structural change on the farm.  The move in 2010 to consolidate the office/shop/dairy/wine cellar/tasting rooms on the Corzano hill has benefited both administration and sales.  It is now easier for clients to see the dairy and the wine cellar at work, to watch workers in the vineyards and the sheep grazing in the fields in the valley below from the Corzano hill.   The guests who come to stay on the farm now have a point of reference at the farm office when they arrive and where they can later participate in tastings and visits to the facilities.

On the other side of the farm at Paterno our own farm artisans have filled the space vacated by the move: Svetlana creates wonderful painted ceramics of all sorts, and adjacent to her studio is Stefan, Ari’s companion with his carpentry shop where he makes furniture from old wine barrels, and next to him is Pascal’s son Oliver who works his forge in his metal workshop, while Till’s partner Stephanie, as she completes her degree in phytotherapy, is developing an officinal botanical garden and facilities for phytotherapic preparation.

There is now a farm pool in an open field above Casa Fallocchio with a glorious view of the surrounding hills towards Corzano.

Despite the current economic difficulties our wines and oil continue their success in the US and various European countries.  The cheese production, unique as it is, has difficulty satisfying demand.  Likewise, the agriturismo, under the astute tutelage of Mirella, has had a very successful year indeed.  After the surge of interest in Tuscany some years ago, followed by the inevitable falling off of numbers after the ‘boom’, we have seen a return of guests looking to stay on a family owned working farm whose products have received praise and awards in the enogastronomic world and where the beauty of the landscape is legendary.

Vineyards and Cellar

2011 began with all the promise that a vintner could want.  With abundant rain during the winter, then early growth in the warm spring, the vines showed great potential under almost ideal conditions.

The grapes were free from disease, ripening perfectly with abundant sun. But as the summer progressed the hot temperatures that normally mark July and early August and are needed to ripen the grapes failed to materialize.  Under ideal circumstances toward the middle of August the weather would break, there would be storms and the temperature would diminish.  But the opposite happened:  towards the middle of August the heat suddenly bore down on the hills like a raging fire.  The temperature was consistently above 40 C and the grapes were scorched by the hot breeze.  On one side of the plant (the part away from the sun) the grapes were perfectly mature while on the other they were shriveled and burned.  The vines in the better positions ironically suffered more than the ones in the less ideally situated, further away from the relentless sun.  And to this was added the fact that it had not rained since June.  The stress of heat coupled with lack of water reduced the yield by 30%.  It was the young, strong vines that suffered most, the older vines having rooted themselves more deeply in the soil.

We had the longest harvest in our history, lasting from the 25^th August to the 6^th of October. It was a slow selection process, arduous and time consuming, and done only when conditions were advantageous.

The work in the cellar went ahead with the added help of three young women, students of wine making from Germany and France.  The harvest, the selection, the pressing and the monitoring all went ahead normally.  After the enormous work that went into caring for the vines, the processing of the grapes, the watchful progress of the fermentations, Joshi and Ari say the wine for this harvest will be a very fine and elegant one, full of subtle, fruity flavors.

Oil:  it is hard to better last year’s success with our olive oil.  It was named one of the very best olive oils in Italy by Gambero Rosso’s Oli d’Italia olive oil guide, among others. This year, again due to the lack of rain, the trees suffered terribly and some died.  The oil however is still extraordinary.  The olives are harvested and brought to the press twice a day by Joshi.  He has arranged that we once again use the new and sophisticated press that operates under vacuum to guarantee as little oxidation as possible. The oils keep their fruitiness and freshness long into the year.

Stables and Dairy

We are very happy that his year Ram and Krishna from India came to work with us in the stables, adding to the farm’s great mix of nationalities. Joshi and Till organized a major revamping of the stables with new feeding bands and fixtures.  The sheep continue to produce the wonderfully rich and flavorful milk that brings so much to the special taste of our cheese.

Toni is as busy as ever managing the dairy and the shop.  We are doing a brisk business in the shop with the direct sale of farm products as well as tastings.  Toni continues to invent new cheeses.  At the moment there is a soft cheese covered in the traditional Tuscan herbs in development that should be in our shop soon, adding to the twelve different types (depending on the season) that we already produce.

As to the family, here is a quick report on their activities:

Joshi continues to oversee work on the farm with the ingenuity and hard work that is characteristic of him.  Whether it is organizing solar panels for the roof of the stables or researching for the very best olive press he is diligent in finding the best solutions for our work.

Toni is equally active:  dairy, shop, children, garden, cooking, painting, supervision, making the meals for the harvest each day.   In an article by a local magazine the author called Toni the ‘beating heart of the farm’.

Their children are all busy:  Eli will leave shortly for India where she goes each year to design and produce clothing for sale in Europe; Tim is doing very well studying architecture in Berlin; Oscar is studying biology at Exeter University in England; William studies viticulture and enology in Turin; only Rocco remains at home, studying this year in Florence.

Punzi (Sibilla), who worked in the shop and dairy until this year, has moved with her companion Aran to Singapore where he is working and is expecting her first child in April.  We hope to have her back on the farm for an extended summer visit this coming year.

Ari is working tirelessly in the wine cellar, challenged and motivated by the desire to make the best wine possible.  Stefan, her companion, has his carpentry shop in one of the spaces vacated by the move to Corzano and is busy building furniture and fixtures for the buildings on the farm.

Susan has had the great pleasure and satisfaction of having visits from film directors, authors, screenwriters, actors, artists, directors and musicians to the calm and creative quiet the farm atmosphere offers.  She believes that one of Wendel’s great wishes was to complement the work on the farm with the arts.  This last summer we had the Kneehigh Theater together with the Little Angel Theater from London for research and development of a piece after a short story by Marchez for the 50th anniversary of the Little Angel.  They staged a charming improvised version of the piece in the chapel at Paterno before leaving for home.  It was the highlight of the summer in Paterno and we sincerely hope that they will be back.

On the adjacent property Poggio: Joshi’s brother Pascal is now flying even bigger hot air balloons with boxes for up to twelve; Kirsty is always involved in a range of creative projects; Anna is at university studying psychology in New Zealand; their son Oliver has set up his forge at Paterno and is making Damascan knives and forged art objects; Rudi will go on to study architecture next year, hopefully in Switzerland.

The farm also features in various documentaries, cooking shows and blogs, articles about gourmet cooking and in a feature film called Decadence by an Australian director, Pria Viswalingam dealing with the decline of western cultural values (we are not part of the decline, but part of what should last, I should add).

This has been a difficult year for us all; it has been a year full of uncertainty and instability.  Consequently in these times of disquiet we turn to our home and families. I think that I can say for myself and for the others in the family something that Kirsty, my niece, wrote to me today; “we are strongest and shine more brightly as one, for sure”.

In the name of the Gelpke and Goldschmidt families and

La Fattoria di Corzano e Paterno

We wish you peaceful holidays and hope to see you again in the New Year.

We are very pleased to announce that our new monovarietal oil Frantoio has received the maximum award – Tre Foglie (three leaves) – in the new Gambero Rosso olive oil guide, Oli d’Italia – I migliore extravergine 2011, which will be presented at Vinitaly in Verona on the 8th of April.

7th February 2010 – Gambero Rosso Tre Bicchieri prize giving at the BMW Museum, Am Olympiapark 2, 80809 Munich

11th March 2001 – Slow Wine at the Royal Agricultural Halls and Conference, 80 Vincent Square, London SW1P 2PE, open to the public 4-8 pm, in occasion of the presentation of the first autonomous wine guide Slow Food. 100 Italian wineries awarded with the snail will gather for the guide launch and tasting.

13th/14th March – Terre di Toscana at the UNA Hotel Versilia,Viale Sergio Bernardini già Viale Colombo, 335/337, Lido di Camaiore (LU). Two days of tasting on the Tuscan coast with the best Tuscan wineries.

27-29th March – Prowein International Trade Fair Wine and Spirits in Dusseldorf. A huge wine fair with over 3300 exhibitors from 51countries. We will be in hall 3, stand C49, as part of the Der Feinschmecker stand.

7-11th April – Vinitaly in Verona. You can find us at Italy’s most important wine fair at our usual position in hall 8, stand E5.

Certain qualities mark pivotal moments in successful endeavors: energy and activity accumulated over time, a moment of self examination, then a clear jump, an almost quantum leap in productivity and organization, finally settling into a new configuration where sectors are better integrated, more harmonious. This is what happened at the Fattoria Corzano e Paterno in 2010.

Of course the farm had been growing and refining itself continually over the forty years of its existence, but this year was different. When Wendel first found Corzano he imagined a place where he could produce his own wine and cheese and, as was his way, he set up improvised facilities for both. With the enthusiasm of their youth, his children, nephew and niece adapted willingly to the new and exciting challenges. With the passing of the decades these young men and women have grown into their leading roles in their various sectors on the farm. Now this generation has set its own mark on their inheritance: they are engaged, informed and ambitious for the possibilities of their land.

Important structural changes have taken place this year. We have seen the dairy, the office, the tasting room and farm shop moved from their perpetually makeshift facilities in Paterno to newly restored spaces on the Corzano hill alongside the recently built underground wine cellar. The new locations are in more spacious and modernized parts of the Corzano complex, although rooms with vaulted ceilings constructed more than five hundred years ago are still used. The dairy now occupies the building that was once the wine cellar, and the tasting room is in a renovated barn. Having all of these work areas adjacent has meant a great deal to the administration of the farm. It also means that one can purchase wine as well as cheese without changing hills. In Paterno remain the stables, the farm garage, tractors and of course two houses of the agriturismo. With time we hope that on the Paterno side we can develop initiatives that involve artisanal work including metalwork, ceramics and food elaboration. We hope, too, that Pascal will begin again to fly his early morning hot air balloons from the fields nearby.

This year that saw the fruition of Wendel’s vision and a taking in hand by Aljoscha, Antonia, Arianna, Till and Sibilla of the next period of development, experimentation and growth. Through their young children there is already the promise of another generation, curious, busy learning skills and preparing themselves for the future.

Sector by Sector

Wines: it was a strong and challenging year for wine making. The season, cold and rainy, began late. Then in July it suddenly became very hot for a few weeks after which there was a cooling down period. August was rainy and there was much care required to prevent sickness due to humidity. It was a change from the preceding year which had been very dry and therefore very stressful for the grapes. In August we were visited by a hale storm which, frightening though it is to any fruit grower, did very little damage to our grapes. The evidence indicates that it will be a very good year for our wines; although they will not be high in alcohol they will have rich bodies with intense aromas.

The harvest began in early September and promised to be an excellent one, for reds in particular. But the weather proved unpredictable and unstable with frequent rain. This year, more than most, required a meticulous manual selection of the grapes and so the selecting tables (an innovation) had an important role to play. In the end, the scrupulous work of picking and selecting paid off with wonderful wines of a vibrant fruitiness and fresh and intense aromas without having compromised concentration. The only problem was that with such a radical selection process the quantity of grapes used was dramatically reduced: we lost circa 40% of our red production, but in exchange we have obtained excellent and highly perfumed wines.

Oil

There was an abundance of fruit this year but the rains that hampered work in the vineyard made the olive harvest equally problematic. The rain had swollen the olives but, fortunately, that did not affect the quality of the oil. It only meant that per kilo of olives the yield in olive oil was only 11%, that is, 25% less than previous years. With Arianna in the cellar, Aljoscha had time to experiment more with his new passion: oil. Through new and innovative facilities for pressing the oil extraction has been optimized. The press can be regulated to maximize the qualities of specific olive types: we now make an oil of single varietals. This year we have oil from Moraiolo and Frantoio varieties alongside our classical Tuscan mix of olives. Again, with the extra care taken in harvesting, transportation of the olives and the variations of the pressing procedure we have oils of great balance, intensity, fruitiness; oils less bitter than in previous years.
The remarkable quality of the oil is due also the fact that Aljoscha will not allow more than six hours to pass between picking and pressing. This reduces oxidation and protects polyphenols from being washed away with the water. Polyphenols, antioxidants, contribute both to the longevity of the oil but also, importantly, to the its health benefits. With the process of extraction so refined the number of polyphenols increases two to three times that of standard pressings.

Dairy

The new dairy is a joy to behold. Literally. Its windows have the most beautiful views across the valley. It previously housed the winemaking facilities until the new wine cellar was built but now houses our modern, spacious cheese making
area. Antonia, together with Nicoletta, creates more than twelve different cheeses from Till’s milk and continue to experiment. Our cheeses are now seen in some of the finest restaurant.

Tasting Room/Sales

As the portal for distribution of the farm’s products, the sales area is the point of reference for most visitors to the farm. Sibilla can be found selling cheese and wine, giving tastings and advising clients and our guests on local history and the best restaurants around.

Office

We are so very happy for Chiara, who has administered to our office needs for the last ten years. She is expecting her first child, a girl, in February. She will be out of the office until the autumn.

Agriturismo

Mirella is now very well settled in as responsible for the Agriturismo sector of the farm. She is an energetic and enthusiastic presence among us, tireless in her attention to our guests. We are lucky to have her.

After an unprecedentedly long and wet olive oil harvest all our olives have been pressed.

This year we have decided to make, as well as our usual blend, two single varietals – Frantoio and Moraiolo, available in 500 cl bottles and new, smaller 250 cl bottles.

For full details and to read of how our olive oil production has become even more careful and particular click here.

Albumul poate fi vazut doar online.

After their usual autumnal break, during which they gave birth and fed their lambs, the sheep have started supplying the dairy with milk again. Today was the first day of production, and we hope to have a well stocked farm shop by Christmas. The first marzolini will be ready in a couple of days and after two months without fresh cheese we very much look forward to savoring them, drizzled with our just pressed new olive oil.

The new Slow Food wine guide, Slow Wine, has just been launched at the Salone del Gusto in Turin. Corzano e Paterno received the ‘Snail’, an award given to only 160 wineries in Italy. In the words of the editors: ‘We look at what is beyond: the people that work in the winery, the vineyards and the cultivation methods, the cellar and the style of vinification. This has led to a new appraisal of the cellars.’ From an article in Decanter

Our Chianti Riserva Tre Borri 2007 has received maximum points in the Gambero Rosso Vini d’Italia 2011, three glasses.

And across the ocean, Wine Spectator has awarded 92 points to our 2006 Il Corzano.

So congratulations to Aljoscha Goldschmidt and Arianna Gelpke for the wonderful work in vineyard and cellar.