BIOGRAPHY
“Muddy boots, pruning shears, camera: this is how I prefer to arrive at estates with which I work (and in the office as well …. or so my colleagues complain!). I like to walk the vineyards, search and seek what there is to see, confront my work with the passion and impetuosity which are part of my character.
I graduated from the University of Florence in Agricultural Sciences and Technology and my first working experience was in the laboratory and cellars of the Col d’Orcia estate in Montalcino. Fundamental to my professional development was the year working at the Chalmers Nurseries in Australia, an experience which deepened my knowledge of vine ampelography and also involved an active supervision of working teams in addition to laboratory analysis and in research. I owe a great deal, both professionally and personally, to Bruce and to the Chalmers family. I then continued my working time in Australia at the Kooyong winery with the aim of integrating my knowledge of agronomy with a better understanding of the science of winemaking.
Upon my return to Italy, I began collaborating with the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Florence, devoting time and attention both to vine diseases such as esca and to studies of the physiology and morphology of the vine, concentrating on lesser known Tuscan grape varieties and working in close association with Professor Giovan Battista Mattii, who has become both a reference point and a friend. In 2005 I started working with Matura in the viticultural sector alongside expert and highly capable professionals.
Currently associated with the Matura Group, I carry out my professional work as a consultant in agronomy both in Italy and abroad, facing, each and every day, with new matters in the field, dedicating my work to indentifying the typical character of each specific territory and doing my best to bring out its maximum potential. I work with producers who practice onventional, organic and bio-dynamic viticulture, seeking new solutions to the problems I encounter in the vineyard and with one constant goal in mind: the perfect ripening of the grapes.
Important steps in my carreer:
2003 – 2004: working experiences at the Col d’Orcia estate in, Montalcino
2004: degree in Agricultural Sciences and Technology at the University of Florence
2004 – 2005: working experience at the Chalmers vine nursery, New South Wales, Australia
2005: research grant and collaboration with the Department of Fruit and Vegetable Cultivation of the Agricultural Faculty of the University of Florence
2005 – 2008: consultant in agronomy with the Matura Group
Since 2009: consultant in agronomy and partner of the Matura Group, working in particular in the following geographical areas: Tuscany: Chianti, Chianti Classico, Montalcino, Montepulciano, Carmignano, Maremma; Umbria; Emilia-Romagna; Sicily; Puglia; Hungary: Tokaj, Villany, Somló; Australia.
2010: work with a development project – participation in the cooperative program in Uruguay “the United Nations Development Program” UNDP
2010: participation as an international judge in the contest “Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show”;
2010: speaker at the seminar “Think Global, Plant Local” – Australian Society of Viticulture, Mildura, NSW, Australia
Since 2011: founding partner of the association Genus Agri, an organization qualified to work as consultants as part of the program “PSR Toscana” (Program of Rural Development in Tuscany)
Stefano Dini
“When I joined the Matura Group I was searching for projects, work which was in line with my idea of myself. At that moment in time, Matura was looking for a professional agronomist and I thought that I could be that person. The group struck me as an incomparable one, a giant of the wine business, but once I began working within the Group I realized that Matura is made up of men and women with their faults and merits and this is its greatest asset. Today loyalty is the only important thing, but we are not talking about a blind loyalty to the group in itself, but loyalty to one’s colleagues, to the team, to the projects we are working on, to the clients, to oneself and to one’s work”.