I AM WHAT I BELIEVE IN
BIOGRAPHY OF THE OENOLOGIST PARISI
This is what my grandfather, my mother and my teachers taught me
Also thanks to them I have achieved so much
The origins
I was born in a small town in the province of Florence, Lazzeretto, from a family of winemakers where wine was the only mean of support and the vineyard was carried by hand like a child. Since I was small I loved the countryside, I walked barefooted through the freshly milled vineyards and played in the pits, perfectly smoothed by expert hands.
At the age of six, my father took me to the winemaker. He was a tall man and always had a blue biro behind his ear, he didn't like black and wore a long white coat filled with red wine stains. He appeared from a glass room - his laboratory - in which there were shelves covered with white tiles on which rested, gurgling, glass stills and many wine bottles half full.
Our winemaker was called “Ridolo” and as the name itself explains - or nickname, I never asked - he was always smiling. Whether it was for the continuous tasting of wine or for his character, he was an exceptional man, with a joke always ready, able to solve a problem on any type of wine.
Tradition
I loved being in the vineyards and smelling the scent of the tilled soil. For me it was the scent of life. I was running carefree among the farm animals that roamed the farmyard and along the vineyards. My grandfather was very a important person in my life.
As a great winemaker, as he was, he taught me to respect the times of nature, the ability to interpret the atmospheric conditions
so to plan activities and how to work the land, according to wise practices handed down from father to son.
He largely applied what today they call biodynamic agriculture, obviously excluding the use of specific preparations and some notions about the influence of planets in the vineyard and cellar.
He knew the practices that had to be carried out under each moon phase and, more importantly, when not to touch anything in order not to compromise the work, which is not little believe me.
The vocation
It was 1978, when I made my first winemaking by picking up the bunches of grapes left by the harvesters, too intent joking to be careful in the harvest. The grape harvest was a magical moment at home. Among winegrowers there was collaboration, planning a different time for each, so to harvest quickly the grapes first from one and then from another.
It was love at first sight. Love for this world so hard but full of meanings, humble gestures and so much passion. In '86 I started Agricultural studies.
In the family they did not want me to be a winemaker because it is very tiring and I still remember that I told them: "Either you let me be a winemaker or I will do nothing". My father said: "Don't choose this job, it is “hard” work but if you want to do it, do it well".
The determination
In '91 I graduated with full marks and started working in some wineries in Chianti. The following year I went to Montalcino and there I understood what it meant to make excellent wines. Back home I took over my grandfather's company, continuing to work for other companies as it was too small and needed money to develop it.
I told my father I wanted study oenology and he told me: "you chose to be a winemaker and produce wine, if you study you won't have time to work". I secretly enrolled in Enology in Siena. During the day I worked and at night I studied.It was the period when many producers wanted to start bottling their wines and started asking me for advice.
I looked for maestro Giulio Gambelli in Poggibonsi and asked him if he could teach me what he knew about wines and Sangiovese in particular. He wanted to taste first some of my Sangiovese, and later agreed.
In summer 1996 I left for Bordeaux. I went to the University of Oenology and asked if I could be received. It was there that I met some professors, mile stones of modern oenology.
Awareness
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I was so excited after having been in Bordeaux that year, that I decided to read Oenology and Viticulture, where Giacomo Tachis was professor.
Over the years, Tachis, taught me to fully believe in my passion, and for this I owe him everything. As a working student - I certainly couldn't stop working - I graduated, with a lot of sacrifice, with “110 e Lode” with an internationally published thesis. Work increased, from Italy to Europe to the United States.
It was a positive economic moment and some producers decided to hand over their own vineyards because they were too old and no longer able to cope. In 2005 I looked after a vineyard area of 17 hectares.
I then decided to do a complete restyling of the family property.
The day I managed the company and the consultations, while at night I was on the phone to make appointments. A sacrifice certainly, but widely repaid, over time, by the quality achieved of the wines produced and by the commercial contracts signed.
Knowing that my sacrifices are widely repaid by the satisfaction of the producers is priceless to me.
