Jarkko and Josephin Peränen are a Finnish/German husband and wife team making pure unadulterated wine from a historic farm in Tuscany. The plan had been for Jarkko to do one harvest in Chianti Classico but they fell in love with the region and stayed for 5 years working at a nearby vineyard before deciding to purchase the beautiful farm of Candialle in the region of Panzano.

Candialle is 42 hectares, now farmed organically in the Conca d'Oro (Golden bowl) region of Tuscany. Historically planted to wheat, olives, and grapes, the region dates to Roman times. In 1760 Panzano was the first official wine region legally classified by Cosimo III. In 2005 the Peränens and a group of like-minded farmers joined together with the goal of being the first region in Italy to be 100% organic. They are 90% there.

The Peränenäs farm is not a monoculture, they have retained the rolling fields of olive trees and have preserved their surrounding woodlands. Only 12 hectares are planted to vines. Between the vines, they cultivate native, naturally occurring beneficial cover crops. The soil is unique here, called Galestra, a combination of limestone, clay, sandstone, and chalk that gives their Sangiovese a combination of power from the limestone and lightness from the sandier soils. This means their wines not only show stunning purity of fruit young but also age extremely well. Candialle is the only estate in the region to still use the old albarello or ancient bush vine trellising systems, adapted by Jarkko to mitigate any moisture on the vines. Luckily, this is not so much of a problem and their high-density plantings, some of which are very old, sit in perfect orientation for late-ripening Sangiovese at 300m (1200 feet) above sea level enjoying ideal diurnal shifts.

Farming is organic with compost from their own cuttings and grape skins, and manure from their two cows. Vineyard work is done with a special lightweight tractor that runs on a rubber track to keep from compacting the soil. All fermentations are native and aging happens in concrete, stainless steel, and used Burgundy barrels (350L and 600L) and most recently in unique ceramic egg-shaped containers called Clayvers. They are the first in Italy to use Clayvers which are made in Liguria and are fired at high temperatures that are much less porous than barrels. They keep the lees in contact with the juice in a vessel that imparts no flavor. If any new wood is ever used it is in a small amount (20% or less) and aging is extended so that the fruit is dominant. Long bottle aging is a regular occurrence as Jarkko and Josephin feel the wines should not be rushed into release.

We are very excited to bring these beautiful and exciting wines to the West Coast.