The kids are alright! Meet È JAMU

È Jamu is the story of an old farm in Chianti today run by an energetic sister and brother duo. Meca (24) and Rocco (22) are eager farmers of grapes and olives. Their fledgling domaine makes a red wine, a white white, and an olive oil, all of stunning purity and terroir expression. To us, this is the heart and soul of Chianti.

Their 30 hectares of organic vines and olive trees sit in Valdarno Superiore, the precious Eastern sloping sub-region of Chianti. Valdarno has been considered an ideal wine growing site since the Roman era, cited by Cosimo de Medici as one of the four areas of excellence in Tuscan wine production.

Meca (short for Maria Domenica) and Rocco have an intense and inspiring story.

They were born into a farming family in the Southern Italian province of Calabria, destined to be the sixth generation of olive growers. Sadly, this region is riddled with mafia activity to this day, and their late Father boldly ventured to turn his family’s olive farm and oil mill into a social cooperative expressly to employ at-risk youth away from the mafia. “That's when the problems and threats started, preventing us from working and making our lives impossible. Thousands of burnt trees, direct threats to our safety.”

Meca & Rocco remain passionate about their generation finding their home in natural farming: “Being in our early twenties, both my sister and I are very keen to get young people like us involved in the farming and wine sector because now more than ever we believe there is a great need for people to change their way of thinking about and consuming food and wine, in a way that is more sustainable and respectful of nature. We also want young people to rediscover the beauty and the importance of working the land, especially the vine, which, for Italians, gives the drink par excellence, the drink that’s made Tuscany famous throughout the world: Chianti.”



È jamu is Calabrian slang for let's go! It’s not hard to see how this relates to the Luppino’s flight from Calabria but it also speaks to Meca & Rocco’s philosophy: “to never fall idle—to always be growing, developing, improving.”

É JAMU 2019 Zimbatò Chianti DOCG

A beautifully crafted quintessential Chianti; organic, vegan, and incredibly valued.

Find an intense ruby red appearance with a bouncing bouquet of cherries, wild berries, and a distinctly floral violet-like aroma. On the palate the wine is full, round, and soft, embracing the mid-palate like a hug from an old friend. A persistent florality rides atop the fruit and the silky tannins of to great farming and gentle cap management, enologist Giampaolo Chiettini opting for the rack-and-return (délestage) method and a 15-day maceration.

Zimbatò is a terroir window that eschews oak for a pure but fully developed image of these youths’ and their late father’s careful farming. Don’t mistake this wine’s unadorned élevage in stainless for simplicity! Fiasco’s of Chianti are all good with us, but this is a richer style. It is pure and dynamic, full bodied and luscious at 14% with beautifully ripened tannins and bold red fruit.

Zimbatò is a treat with most essential Italian fare — pizza, red sauce, polpette, you name it. It also drinks beautifully on it’s own. It’s as versatile a glass pour as one could ask for and the perfect Tuesday night Netflix wine to boot.

Saluti!

863428 | 176 cases of 12 available