The first buds of spring in the Boggina Sangiovese vineyard
The 100 year old Sangiovese wines from which Petrolo does their massale selection
Boggina vineyard
The Boggina vineyard, here you make out if you look carefully that there will be only 3 shoots per vine, and eventually only 4 bunches on each shoot will be kept. Yields are extremely low, in other words. More specifically, Petrolo has 140,000 plants and produces only 65,000 bottles – less than half a bottle per vine.
Caberlot
You can see from the Galatrona tower, below Petrolo’s highest vineyard (Campo Lusso, 2.5 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc that in part add tiny quantities to Galatrona), the Il Caberlot estate surrounded by cypress trees. Another cult wine, it confirms the special terroir of Petrolo – there is not another significant producer in the area, but the soils, exposure and altitude of these vineyards are a special little pocket. Interestingly enough, the Caberlot vineyards used to be part of the Petrolo estate.
Luca's dog Gala (for Galatrona)
Luca on the Galatrona tower
The villa on an incredible spring Tuscan day
The Petrolo villa itself is quite old – it was built in 1725 by Massimo Soldani, an important Italian sculptor who spent his entire career working for the Medicis. One of his sculptures is at the Met in New York.