A new story,
but a significant past
The story of our Estate is a story of love. The love of a father and a daughter, the love of a wife and a husband, the love of a mother for her children. But, above all, the love of one family for the history and tradition of Italy and its viticulture, and the love and determination of my husband and I to see that tradition can carry on into the future.
“It all started in 2004 when my father Giacomo decided to replant the old 1.25 hectare vineyard in front of Podere La Villa. He chose Sangiovese and Merlot grapes, following the advice of his agronomist friend Valerio Barbieri, who believed these varietals would find their ideal home in this soil. And that’s exactly what happened. Two years later, in 2006, when the vines began to bear their first delicate fruit, just a few precious bunches of grapes, we saw the signs that this vineyard would produce excellent results if it was cared for with passion and dedication. We weren’t even thinking about making our own wine then, we had only just considered selling the grapes to other producers and making a small profit.”
“In 2007, however, something special and unexpected happened. My son Riccardo was on his way, the first of Giacomo’s two grandsons. So, My husband Raffaele and I decided to celebrate the event by making our own wine with our first harvest. Coincidentally the first day of the harvest, 7 September 2007, was also the day of Riccardo’s birth. Hence, the name we chose for the wine is “Pargolo,” an ancient Italian poetic term for a young child, deriving from the Latin “parvulus,” small. The name reflected the infant starting our new generation and the birth of a new vineyard.”
“Pargolo, our very first wine, began as a delicious, easy to drink, typical Tuscan wine made of Sangiovese and Merlot. I believe that Merlot is more feminine than the Cabernet Sauvignon my father famously used in his first Super Tuscan blends. Pargolo reflects not only the birth of a child and a wine, but the birth of a personal style, a wine that is soft, well rounded, full of the luscious fruity notes of the Chianti Classico region where I grew up. Truly Tuscany in a glass”.
“The petite size of the 2 hectare vineyard at the beginning explains the modest production of Pargolo, a niche wine for lovers of limited quantity, high quality boutique wines. Since 2008, Pargolo achieved the designated status of a “Chianti Classico” DOCG wine. Thus, the black rooster, symbol of Chianti Classico, appears on the back label of the bottle”.
“In 2013, thanks to the commitment of my husband Raffaele and his great love for the Tuscan land, a passion that is certainly equal to or perhaps even greater than my own, we decided to expand our estate and buy another 6 hectares of vineyard, transforming the countryside around PODERE LA VILLA into our main business. Now, I am proud to have added “Giacomo,” a wine dedicated to my father and the legacy I will pass to my own sons in the future”.
Ilaria Tachis
ABOUT THE TACHIS FAMILY
by Cynthia Chaplin, wine teacher in Rome.
Giacomo Tachis, hailed as “the father of great Italian wines” is also the father of an Italian daughter. Ilaria Tachis is dedicated to preserving the tradition, success and heritage passed down to her by her beloved babbo. Ilaria has taken her father’s vision and created a glorious gem of wine making excellence in the stunning Chianti Classico zone, the heart of Tuscany’s most historic region. At Podere La Villa, Ilaria and her husband, Raffaele D’Amico, are raising their two young sons in the vineyard, respecting tradition and history while seeking to innovate and strive for sustainability. Ilaria’s first two wines, created with the help of oenologist Alessandro Cellai, are Pargolo (first vendemmia Sept 2007) and the award winning Giacomo (conceived in Sept 2016, after Giacomo’s death in February of the same year). These excellent bijoux wines represent Ilaria’s ties to the past and her aspirations for the future.
Ilaria is not only the daughter of a legendary winemaker. She is a wife and a mother, a literature student, and ardent gardener with a passion for her flowers and her vegetables. Meeting Ilaria after an onstage presentation at a wine event is completely different to meeting her in the intimacy of her home. Podere La Villa is not only a vineyard, it reflects Ilaria’s and Raf’s love of nature in all its complexities.
Ilaria’s Story
"... All of this wonderful personal growth brought me to a seminal moment in 2007, the year my first son, Riccardo, was born. The birth of Riccardo, and two years later my second son Nicolo, revolutionized my professional life. From then on, I dedicated myself completely to PODERE LA VILLA ... "