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Belgian (Flemish) by origin, born in 1993, James Marshall-Lockyer’s maternal grandfather Jacques de Liedekerke bought the 61ha Tenuta Licinia estate in the 1970s having been lured to Tuscany by Italian bureaucrats based in the newly established European Commission in Brussels. Being close to his grandfather, James grew up between Belgium, Switzerland, & UK, but it was at the estate he found solace & inspiration, eventually taking over from his grandfather. Given the opportunity to pursue a career in academia or viticulture, he chose the latter, taking up the trowel in 2020 & becoming the winemaker, increasing the vineyard size to 6.5ha, alongside the 60ha of forest.
The estate lies in the Val di Chiana, an ancient Etruscan area, near the delightful village of Lucignano, known as ‘Licinia’ in Roman times, adjacent to the Castello di Calcione, located halfway between Siena & Arezzo, on a fault-line where, as he explained, “slopes seem to fold into each other”, creating a wave effect that lent its name to their top single vineyard Cabernet Franc, Onda, of which they make c.1k bts/anno, vintage allowing.
The soils lying round the cantina, whose vines lie in a natural anfiteatro at circa 350m asl, are predominantly weathered old grey friable galestro/slate, clay & calcareous little stones; James is also farming one plot nearby with outcrops of volcanic, Etna-like lava in one vyd, & another that is more clay, schist & calcareo. Being close to Arezzo & the Apennines, Tenuta Licinia enjoys a more continental climate than Montalcino (that’s influenced by Maremma), bringing with cleaner mountain air, fresh & crisp, & lots of light; October vintage nights can be below 10 degrees while warming up to 25 by day (as per the Langhe); winters are much colder than further west towards the coast, freezing most nights between late December & mid February. Summers can peak at 40 degrees.
2023 'Sasso di Fata' (Cab Sauv 50% Cab Franc 40% Merlot 10%) - their core vineyard & wine, a reference to a rock hidden in a nearby forest; from this vyd, strewn with galestro, alberese, arenaria & calcareous clay, James micro selects & fillets the plot to create a blend of twenty-year old Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, & Merlot (6k bts).
Affinamento/elevage: 11 months large format oak (20HL) for Cabernet Franc and 500L Tonneaux for Sauvignon, fine grained/light toasting, Stockinger and Taransaud. Finished for 6 Months in breathable Concrete
The 2023 growing season was relatively balanced with rain and some unrealized mildew pressure in spring with a not excessively hot summer that was mixed. Late September made the vintage for later picked grapes with bright light and warm days with very cold nights.
