Claudia Furlan and Ivan Chirico

Vinci, Toskana

Balenaia sounds like tuscan spirit.
Every corner of Tuscany hides a place that ends in aia. Sassicaia is where the stones (sassi) cluster, Ornellaia is where the ash trees (Ornielli) cluster, Tassinaia is where the badgers (Tassi) cluster. And Balenaia is where the whales gather, 500 metres above sea level, next to Leonardo da Vinci's house. A few million years ago, whales swam here. Today, Ivan and Claudia swim here every day, in their sanctuary that passes through the Etruscans and the Medici family. Without time or haste they await the fruits of this land so rich in history. Salt, sand, stones. And while the young whales grow, wine is produced from old terraced vineyards that resemble Inca pyramids, just to add another bit of history. From the old Trebbiano Toscano and Sangiovese vines, tended for decades by simple and wise farmers, a new wine is born today. Ivan has been studying and practising biodynamics for twenty years, always making natural wine. Meanwhile Claudia studies and practices herbs and nature. From these two souls a few bottles are born, grown in amphora, as nature intended. Nothing more, nothing less.