Tuscan pioneer Querciabella with winemaker Manfred Ing

Manfred Ing and the estate

This London event is a guided masterclass and wine tasting focused on Querciabella, the Tuscan estate founded by Giuseppe Castiglioni in 1974. The session is led by Manfred Ing, Querciabella’s head winemaker, and the tasting goes back to 2010, the year he joined the estate in that role. Ing is originally from KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, made wine in New Zealand and Napa Valley, and relocated to Italy in 2007, initially in Piedmont.

67 Pall Mall is the organiser, and the programme is presented as a masterclass rather than a drop-in tasting. The event page places it in the St James’s Room and lists a welcome reception before the masterclass begins.

What the tasting covers

The wines frame Querciabella’s shift from early experimentation to a stronger focus on Chianti Classico. The estate first challenged restrictive local conventions through ambitious wines made outside appellation rules: Camartina is described as one of the first SuperTuscan wines, and Batàr is a Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc blend that reinforced the estate’s reputation for experimentation.

The listed tasting includes 2022 Batàr Toscana Bianco IGT, 2010 Chianti Classico Greve, three 2016 Chianti Classico wines from Greve, Radda and Gaiole, and three 2021 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione bottlings from Greve, Radda and SA-LA. The broader programme connects those wines with Querciabella’s later DOCG-focused approach, including greater precision, site expression and more restrained oak, with Sangiovese at the centre.

The estate’s farming history is also part of that development. Querciabella converted to organic viticulture in 1988 and biodynamic farming in 2000 across 95 hectares in Chianti Classico and its coastal property in Maremma. The estate is now led by Giuseppe Castiglioni’s daughter Mita and her children Andrea and Selene.

Programme timing

The programme is scheduled for Thursday 5 November. It lists a welcome reception at 18:30, the masterclass beginning at 19:00 and the masterclass ending at 20:30.