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Le Masse
He starred in „Inferno“ alongside Tom Hanks, studied at Rome's film academy - and still returned to the vines. Robin Mugnaini now runs Fattoria Le Masse in Barberino Val d'Elsa, a biodynamic family vineyard in the heart of Chianti Classico. His mother is a painter from Berlin, his sister an artist and he himself is a former actor: this is where wines that tell stories are created. 20 hectares of old Sangiovese vines, some dating back to 1974, fermented without temperature control, matured in amphorae designed by sculptor Lorenzo Vignoli. „If we don't celebrate this kind of work, what are we doing?“ asks Robin - and turns the harvest into a celebration.
More about Le Masse
From the film set to the vineyard
When Robin's father Alberto died in 2006, his son was just twenty and dreaming of an acting career. Nevertheless, he made his first 300 bottles of wine - out of a sense of duty, out of love for the land. In the years that followed, he shuttled between film sets and grape harvests, filmed with Ron Howard and stood in front of the camera. But every autumn, he was drawn back to Barberino. In 2018, he finally decided: the Chianti Classico needed him more than Hollywood.
Berlin art meets Tuscan soil
The story of Le Masse begins in the 1950s, when Paolo Mugnaini bought the estate. His son Alberto married Christiane, a painter from Berlin - she still designs the labels today. Daughter Lea, also an artist, founded a Artist Residency on the estate. Robin himself works together with the sculptor Lorenzo Vignoli, who creates his Terracotta amphorae manufactured. Art is not marketing here, but DNA. The Camporella Orange - Trebbiano and Malvasia, two weeks on the skins, without sulphur - is produced in precisely these amphorae.
Biodynamics as a way of life
Robin has been working biodynamically since 2015 and the winery has been certified organic. Preparation 500 in the vineyard, lunar calendar in the cellar - but pragmatically, not dogmatically. He deliberately did not aim for Demeter certification. „Through biodynamics I met really beautiful producers,“ he says. The 20 hectares in Barberino and Tavarnelle accommodate Sangiovese-Vines from 1974 and 1986, plus 6,000 olive trees. In the cellar: large wooden barrels, concrete vats, the amphorae. No temperature control, no pumps, no compromises - just like with Tenuta di Carleone, the neighbour with German winemaker Sean O'Callaghan.
The wines: Sangiovese with soul
The Santa Goccia is Robin's first wine: Sangiovese with Canaiolo and a little Trebbiano, juicy and lively. The Chianti Classico matures in 2,000 litre wooden barrel, the 2022 vintage to 70% in concrete - „it's the wine that gives me more pleasure“. And then there is the Timeo, named after his son: pure Sangiovese, the great wine of the house. Only 18,000 to 25,000 bottles are produced each year - artisanal quantities for a winery that sees itself as an „artisan“. Here, the harvest is not processed, but celebrated.