In 2014, a German digital archivist named Christoph Fischer left his desk in Florence and drove south to Maremma -- not to retire, but to preserve. The estate he purchased near the village of Poggio Murella came with a 60-year-old vineyard still carrying varieties that no one else was bothering to bottle. That decision became Ranchelle, one of Tuscany's most singular natural wine projects.
Backstory
Fischer had lived in Italy for thirty years before founding Ranchelle, long enough to understand what Maremma was losing. The region, historically a malarial wetland reclaimed for agriculture in the twentieth century, developed a distinct viticultural culture built on varieties suited to its harsh conditions. By the time Fischer arrived, most of those varieties had been replaced by Sangiovese and Vermentino, the commercially reliable options. Ranchelle was founded with an explicit mission: make a contribution to the preservation of Maremma's historical wine-growing heritage before it disappeared entirely.
The Region
Maremma occupies the southwestern corner of Tuscany, where the Tyrrhenian Sea moderates the climate and Monte Amiata looms to the north. The area around Poggio Murella and Manciano sits at roughly 350 metres altitude on a mix of tufa, limestone, and clay soils. Sea breezes provide cooling during the growing season, extending the ripening window and preserving acidity in the fruit. It is a rough, underpopulated landscape, historically resistant to the tidier tendencies of the Chianti belt to the north.
Vineyards and Farming
Ranchelle farms 4 hectares -- 3 owned and 1 rented -- with biodynamic practices that use green manure and minimal copper and sulfur, well below organic standards. Since 2015 Fischer has been replanting sections of the vineyard using massale selections taken from heritage vines held by older neighbouring producers. The current vineyard now hosts Aleatico, Alicante, Ansonica, Buonamico, Ciliegiolo, Clairette, Mammolo, Nocchianello, Procanica, and Verdello, among others. These are not experiment varieties. They are the historical backbone of Maremma viticulture, kept alive by a handful of growers and now finding new expression at Ranchelle.
Winemaking
Fischer ferments with wild yeasts and uses no oenological additives at any stage of production. Skin contact varies by wine and vintage, from brief to extended maceration. The approach is direct and honest: grapes are picked ripe, fermented naturally, and bottled without fining or filtration. Sulfur additions, when used at all, are minimal.
The Wines
The portfolio includes Roccolina, a skin-contact white with short maceration; Millocchio Bianco, an extended orange wine; and the reds Corindo, Pergolacce, and Millocchio Rosso. Each wine is built from varieties that the broader market had mostly forgotten, given a platform by a winemaker who believed the forgetting was the real mistake.
