Italy · Chianti Hills

Fattoria Amo

Lorenzo Zonin farms Vernaccia di San Gimignano at 300 metres near San Gimignano on fossil-bearing soils, making an unfiltered still white and an ancestral-method sparkling wine that ships with its yeast sediment intact.

The producer

Fattoria Amo is a small estate at Località Monte Oliveto in San Gimignano, Siena, owned and made by Lorenzo Zonin. Two wines, both 100% Vernaccia di San Gimignano: Ann, a still white split between stainless steel and 500-litre French oak with full malolactic fermentation and approximately seven months of ageing; and Rebel, a pétillant naturel that completes fermentation in the same bottle it is sold in, never disgorged, shipped with its yeast sediment intact. The soils are clay over marine sediment at 300 metres, fossil-bearing and mineral. No animal-derived fining agents anywhere in the process, no filtration, no added sulphites in Rebel.

The two wines run in opposite directions from the same grape. Ann gains texture and a mild, rounded body from the oak fermentation and malolactic conversion while holding its line at 6.4 g/L total acidity. Rebel keeps nothing back: one vessel from start to sale, the effervescence gentle and natural, the yeast visible at the base of the bottle. Pour carefully and the wine is pale and mineral. Swirl the sediment in and it becomes denser and more yeasty. Both outcomes come from the same bottle, and both reflect exactly what Zonin chose to leave in.

Known for

Vernaccia di San Gimignano pétillant naturel, unfiltered and never disgorged, shipped with yeast sediment intact

Notable facts

The story

The sediment stays

When Lorenzo Zonin decided to make a pétillant naturel at Fattoria Amo, he faced a choice that most pét-nat producers resolve the same way: disgorge the wine before sale to remove the yeast sediment, or leave it in. Disgorgement is standard. It clarifies the bottle, makes the wine shelf-stable without visible solids, and reassures buyers unfamiliar with natural sparkling wine. Zonin left the sediment in. Rebel ships cloudy, the yeast settled at the base of the bottle, and the label explains the sediment. The reasoning is consistent with everything else at Fattoria Amo: one vessel from first fermentation to final pour, no transfers, no clarification, nothing added or removed after the wine is bottled. A bottle of Rebel behaves differently depending on how it is handled, and the winemaking decision is visible before the first glass is poured.

From the atlas

Fattoria Amo

At A Glance

The Producer

Lorenzo Zonin makes two wines at Fattoria Amo, a small estate at Località Monte Oliveto in San Gimignano, Siena. Both are Vernaccia di San Gimignano. One is a still white fermented across stainless steel and oak. The other is a pétillant naturel that ships with its yeast sediment still in the bottle.

That second wine is the reason to pay attention. Pét-nat is bottled before primary fermentation finishes, trapping carbon dioxide as the remaining sugar converts. Rebel remains unusual because Zonin does not disgorge it afterward. The sediment formed during that in-bottle fermentation stays. The wine arrives cloudy, settles on the shelf, and the yeast remains through the last pour.

Zonin runs the estate with two viticulture collaborators, Davide Elisei and Massimo Giachini.

Place

San Gimignano is a walled hilltop town in the Siena province of Tuscany, medieval enough that its towers appear on every Tuscan tourism poster and wine enough that Vernaccia di San Gimignano holds its own DOC appellation, one of the oldest in Italy.

Fattoria Amo sits at 300 metres on soils that carry marine fossils: clay and sediment laid down when this part of Tuscany was under the sea. That altitude moderates summer heat and slows ripening, which in Vernaccia translates to acidity that survives into the bottle. The estate occupies a landscape of vineyards, olive trees, and old oaks.

The Toscana IGT designation on Rebel's label is a deliberate choice. Because the pét-nat format and the retained sediment fall outside the DOC's production rules for Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Rebel is bottled under the broader regional classification rather than the appellation.

Soil And Site

The soils at Fattoria Amo are clay over marine sediment at roughly 300 metres altitude. The producer notes the presence of marine fossils in the hillside, physical evidence of the geological period when Tuscan limestone and clay were deposited beneath shallow sea water. Clay retains moisture and moderates vine stress in dry summers. Marine sediment contributes mineral complexity to the fruit. At 300 metres, the diurnal temperature range between warm days and cool nights gives Vernaccia time to develop flavour while holding the acidity that keeps the grape honest in both still and sparkling formats.

Story

Lorenzo Zonin makes only Vernaccia di San Gimignano at Fattoria Amo. The decision to work with only Vernaccia di San Gimignano, rather than adding Sangiovese or international varieties to the range, shaped everything that followed. With one grape and one appellation, every cellar decision becomes visible in the bottle. There is nowhere else for the wine to go.

Zonin built the range around two opposite expressions of the same fruit. Ann goes through oak and malolactic fermentation, adding weight and roundness to Vernaccia's naturally lean, high-acid profile. Rebel goes the other way: no oak, no fining, no filtration, no disgorgement, no added sulphites. The two wines sit at opposite ends of what Vernaccia can do, and the producer's commitment to vegan production across both means no animal-derived agents at any stage, from vineyard to label.

The packaging reflects the same logic: natural cork closures and recycled-paper labels printed with ecological inks. The vegan certification on the label covers the full production chain, not only the cellar work.

Vineyards And Cellar

Fattoria Amo farms Vernaccia di San Gimignano on the clay-marine soils at Monte Oliveto. No animal-derived products are used in cultivation or in the cellar. The wines are not filtered at any stage.

For Ann, the 2022 vintage split fermentation equally between stainless steel tanks and a 500-litre French oak barrel. Both halves went through full malolactic fermentation, converting the grape's naturally sharp malic acid into the softer lactic acid. The wine aged approximately seven months before bottling. Total acidity for the 2022 vintage is 6.4 g/L with a pH of 3.35.

For Rebel, fermentation begins in tank and is completed inside the same bottle in which the wine is sold. There is no transfer between vessels, no clarification, no disgorgement, and no added sulphites. The yeast sediment formed during in-bottle fermentation settles at the base over time and remains there through consumption. Natural cork closes the bottle.

Wines

Fattoria Amo produces two wines, both from 100% Vernaccia di San Gimignano.

Ann is the still white. The 2022 vintage shows what half-and-half fermentation across stainless steel and 500-litre oak does to Vernaccia: the steel portion keeps the grape's characteristic citrus cut, while the oak half adds texture and a mild creaminess from the full malolactic fermentation. The acidity remains measurable at 6.4 g/L, so the wine holds its line despite the roundness the oak brings. Approximately seven months of ageing allows the two halves to integrate. Ann is labelled as Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOC in some markets and as white Toscana IGT in the United States.

Rebel is the pétillant naturel, bottled as Toscana IGT sparkling. It is 100% Vernaccia, made by the ancestral method: one vessel from the first pour to the last, no disgorgement, no intervention. The wine arrives with fine bubbles from the in-bottle fermentation and a visible sediment cloud. The grape's acidity provides the freshness; the lack of sulphites and filtration leaves the fruit unmediated. The flavour profile is closer to a lively, mineral-driven white wine with gentle effervescence than to a conventional sparkling wine stripped of its texture.

In The Glass

Ann opens with floral notes and fruit of green apple and pear, finishing with a salty sensation from the fossilized oyster shell in the soil. The oak fermentation adds texture. At 6.4 g/L total acidity the wine stays firm. It is dry and moderately long.

Rebel is a different experience in the glass. The effervescence is gentle and natural rather than the pressurised mousse of a conventional sparkling wine. Rebel carries pear, citrus zest, and green apple with broom-flower scents, on a lighter body finished by yeasty texture. Like Ann, it retains the grape's characteristic citrus profile, but without the oak or malolactic weight. Poured with the sediment incorporated, the wine becomes cloudy, richer, and more bressy. Both versions are possible from the same bottle.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Rebel. It is a 100% Vernaccia pétillant naturel that has never been disgorged, sold with its yeast sediment intact in the bottle. Pour it carefully and it reads as a bright, mineral sparkling white from one of Tuscany's oldest grape varieties. Swirl the sediment in and it becomes something denser and more yeasty. The wine communicates Zonin's entire production logic in a single pour: one vessel from beginning to end, no animal-derived fining, no filtration, no added sulphites, the grape's own acidity carrying the freshness. It is also the clearest illustration of how Vernaccia behaves outside the conventional still-white format for which San Gimignano is known.

Anecdote

When Lorenzo Zonin decided to make a pétillant naturel at Fattoria Amo, he faced a straightforward choice that most pét-nat producers resolve the same way: disgorge the wine before sale to remove the yeast sediment, or leave it in. Disgorgement is standard practice. It clarifies the bottle, makes the wine shelf-stable without visible solids, and reassures buyers unfamiliar with natural sparkling wine. Zonin left the sediment in. Rebel ships cloudy, the yeast settled at the base of the bottle, and the label explains the sediment.

Final Word

Fattoria Amo is a two-wine estate making a specific argument about Vernaccia di San Gimignano: that the same grape can run in opposite directions, one toward texture and oak, one toward transparency and live yeast. Ann shows what careful fermentation management does to the grape's natural acidity. Rebel shows what happens when the winemaker leaves everything in. Both wines are unfiltered, vegan, and made from the same fruit on the same fossil-marine soils at 300 metres. The range is short and the logic is clear.

Sources

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