Where

The land

In 2016, my grandfather, Alfiero found Santa Lucia, in a hamlet of San Gimignano. There were two hundred olive trees, of around a hundred years old, and two and a half hectares of vineyards sitting on the hills facing north-east with a perfectly reduced amount of sunlight. I tried to keep them alive, but there was no way of saving them. I could have left everything in this state of complete abandonment but I was fascinated by the light and the unique characteristics of this terroir and the great energy that was being trasmitted which made me understand the this was the place that PrimaLuca should be born.

Today , Santa Lucia’s hills are caressed by salty breezes, but millions of years ago there was sea which left tuff soils, a few clays and sand. This soil is rich in fossils and organic elements which makes it extremely fascinating and promising, It is capable of producing the most famous Tuscan white wines, combining flavour, freshness and capacity to age, which Vernaccia di San Gimignano knows how to express so well.

The wine cellar

The other is located in Castelfranco di Sotto, a less evocative place, of course, but where the crops become sips of wine. I have transformed a small garage into my wine cellar, equipped with the bare essentials for a young winemaker who aims to let wine express itself in the most authentic way. The wine is made by focusing on spontaneous fermentations accompanied by the oenological processes letting nature take its course but focusing on control, I dare say, which is maternal to the whole process and this is where knowledge and expertise come into play.

What

To recap, in 2016 I fell in love with the land, in 2017 I tried to save what could be saved, but there was no hope. In January 2019 I replanted, focusing on the production of organic Tuscan white wines. I started with the native varieties, which was almost exclusively Vernaccia di San Gimignano, and, in part also, Trebbiano Toscano. This addition of Trebbiano was to to broaden the horizons. In recent years I have used a slow cultivation process without forcing, without deep fertilization and respecting the natural flow of production. Target? Give me strong foundation.

Today, the number of harvests can be counted on the fingers of one hand, even though the vineyard has already allowed me to vinify Punto Zero, the first Tuscan IGT white wine of my project. Since my last harvest I have begun working on ageing organic Tuscan white wines, such as Vernaccia di San Gimignano and Trebbiano Toscano in their purest forms In addition to wine, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to harvest our two hundred olive trees and produce olive oil, so our biological extra virgin olive oil was also created. It is called L’Alfiero.

How

There are my ways to make wine and extravirgine all... this is mine .

Bio is the starting point

When we bought the land in 2016 it was already certified as biological, that obviously I chose to maintain. However, there are different methods for Bio agriculture. I believe that a good starting point is a systematic commitment to environmental sustainability where there is constant focus and need for technical-scientific knowledge helping to reduce work in the vineyard as much as possible.

Here are some facts to help you understantd what I mean .

  • I don't miss a single weather forecast, in order to be able to manage any critical issues in time, and intervene as little as possible in the vineyard.
  • We do not use electricity or water in the company. We have created a rainwater recovery system, to be used extremely sparingly.
  • The use of plastic is banned here, for example, the screw ties are made of cardboard and the bottle labels are plastic-free.
  • Our bottles are lighter than average to reduce environmental issues for each PrimaLuce product
  • We use recycled cardboard for our packaging and plant based or recyclable plastic where needed.

tons

35,7

How much CO2 we absorb in a year.

tons

187,5

How much CO2 we have already absorbed.

tons

714

How much CO2 we will absorb in the next 20 years.

tons / flights

16

We absorb about the equivalent of 16 Rome-New York flights per year.

Nature and Reason

Wine is not completely natural. Wine, like oil, is a product of nature combined with human processes. Therefore, PrimaLuce is produced naturally by sustaining the cultivated land, respecting a time line, using the natural yeast made by the grapes and by the authenticity of each harvest. But the process is also human as it is carried out with care and careful control of the production process, based on knowledge and personal style.

IGT and exploratory freedom

As you know, if you've already read my story, I'm not just a winemaker and wine producer, I'm also an oenologist. I am tenacious, meticulous and tend to experiment and search for utmost expressive rigor and elegance in winemaking. I have deliberately chosen to maintain the quality status of IGT wine whilst looking for the best opportunity to discover the incredible potential of this terroir.

Why

Because this land deserves more than just the production of white and red wines but also to be studied and defended. Vernaccia di San Gimignano is an amazing variety which is very sought-after, which is rich in history and suitable for organic cultivation. It is not a “pop” grape variety. It reaches its full potential for those who are willing to wait.

New Vernaccia producers have demostrated this and I would like to become part of this quality evolution of the most ancient DOC of Italy.

I will tell you the rest along with my PrimaLuce story.

I fill in the gaps with really good things,be they times, hectares or glasses.

I am Rebecca, Sono Rebecca, Oenologist and winemaker from Tuscany.

LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF

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