The clay story that Casadei is not yet telling

Famiglia Casadei has a ten-point plan, three Demeter certificates, and a biodynamic philosophy that is impressive on paper. But the most interesting part of this tasting lies in a detail that is barely highlighted: terracotta wine barrels in the cellar.

An online tasting, once again organized by Studio Cru . From Famiglia Casadei : six wines, three estates. Castello del Trebbio in Chianti Rufina, Tenuta Casadei on the Tuscan coast near Suvereto, Tenuta Olianas in the interior of Sardinia.

One family, three totally different terroirs, one philosophy they call BioIntegrale . Ten principles, from 'feed the soil, not the plant' to the idea that wine should primarily be an expression of the grape, the soil, and the vintage. Nicely put. But also a bit more of the same in a wine world full of sustainability manifestos.

What kept occupying my mind during the tasting was something else: not the manifesto, but the earthenware with which the wines are made.

Between steel and wood

For one wine in the tasting, a striking choice was made: the De' Pazzi Toscana IGT 2020 from Castello del Trebbio. The blend consists of 60% Sangiovese and 20% each of Merlot and Syrah. The four-hectare vineyard is situated at approximately 450 meters, on clay-rich soil with abundant galestro , near a castle dating back to 1184.

The Sangiovese harvest is split for fermentation. Approximately twenty percent goes into terracotta amphorae; the rest ferments in stainless steel. As a result, about twelve percent of the final blend undergoes alcoholic fermentation in terracotta. Merlot and Syrah also ferment in steel.

Malolactic fermentation takes place in the same vats. Subsequently, the Sangiovese ages for eighteen months in tonneaux that have been used for the second time . Merlot and Syrah go into new barriques that have been used for the second time . That seems like a technical detail. But it is a fundamental choice by the winemaker, with important consequences for the vinification.

The wall of a steel tank is virtually gas-tight and releases hardly any substances or aromas. This allows the winemaker to control temperature and oxygen contact relatively precisely. The fruit of the grape is given plenty of room to develop. Wood gradually allows small amounts of oxygen in while simultaneously releasing tannins and aromatic compounds such as vanilla, toast, smoke, coconut, and spices. Wood therefore plays a full part.

Terracotta behaves differently from wood and stainless steel. Uncoated earthenware can allow oxygen to pass through, while releasing far fewer recognizable aromas than oak. The degree to which oxygen penetrates the wall is expressed as OTR, the Oxygen Transmission Rate. This value varies per vessel and depends on, among other things, clay composition, firing temperature, porosity, wall thickness, and any coatings. The oxygen influences reactions between tannins, anthocyanins, and other wine components.

Limited oxygen supply can promote reactions between tannins and anthocyanins in red wine. This can lead to the formation of more stable color compounds. However, the result is by no means predetermined: wine composition, temperature, pH, retention time, and the precise properties of the barrel together determine the outcome. This is somewhat comparable to the way winemakers consider origin, barrel size, age, and degree of toasting when it comes to wood.

Terracotta generally adds far fewer aromas than new oak. As a result, the primary fruit can remain more recognizable. However, the material is not completely aromatically inert: oxygen supply and the course of fermentation also alter the aromatic profile.

In the De' Pazzi, one can taste black cherry, redcurrant jam, violets, wet gravel, and spices. The mouthfeel offers warmth, fresh tension, and a firm bite. The terracotta fraction may have contributed to that combination of fruit and texture. Exactly how significant that contribution is is difficult to deduce from the final blend. To do so, one would have to taste the same Sangiovese side by side: once from stainless steel and once from terracotta.

The classic counterpart

The Chianti Rufina Riserva 2021 from Castello del Trebbio forms the classic counterpart. The wine ferments entirely in stainless steel and then ages partly in 20-hectoliter barrels and partly in tonneaux used for the second and third time. Terracotta plays no role here.

It is precisely because of this that it becomes apparent that Casadei uses terracotta selectively. It is not a dogma, but a material chosen when it has a specific function within the vinification process.

Sardinia: the earth as cooling

At Tenuta Olianas in the Sarcidano region, terracotta is used differently. The Cannonau di Sardegna DOC 2023 consists of 90% Cannonau and 10% Tintillu from two vineyards: Sedda Sa Figu and Anfiteatro. The latter is situated in a valley with a southern exposure, featuring clayier soil and light wind influence.

A small portion of the must ferments in underground 1,000-liter terracotta vats. The remainder goes into temperature-controlled steel tanks. Skin maceration lasts twenty to twenty-five days. Afterwards, eighty percent of the wine ages in steel and twenty percent in barriques used for the second and third time for eight months.

The underground terracotta vessel has a different function here than with the De' Pazzi. In the Sardinian interior, where summers are warm and temperature fluctuations are high, the soil provides passive climate regulation. At sufficient depth, the ground temperature stabilizes around fourteen to sixteen degrees Celsius.

The mass of the earthenware and the insulating effect of the surrounding soil dampen temperature peaks that can disrupt fermentation in above-ground steel tanks. Generally, this reduces the need for active cooling. The principle is similar to that of the Georgian qvevri : a buried vessel that benefits thermally from the surrounding soil. At Olianas, this technique is employed for a wine that has otherwise been aged with restraint.

The Sogno as a triangle between cement, terracotta, and barrique

The Sogno Mediterraneo 2022 Toscana IGT from Tenuta Casadei adds a third material. The wine consists of 85% Syrah, supplemented by 15% Mediterranean red varieties. The vineyards are located near Suvereto, close to the Tuscan coast.

After harvesting, the grapes are cooled at 10°C for 24 hours. This is followed by crushing and spontaneous fermentation in cement tanks, partly supplemented with terracotta vats. Maceration lasts eighteen days. After the wine has drained, malolactic fermentation takes place in barriques. The wine then ages for twelve to fourteen months. Eighty percent goes into second-use French barriques; twenty percent into new French oak.

Cement and terracotta emit few recognizable aromas, although both materials can allow some oxygen ingress. Exactly how much depends heavily on vessel construction, wall thickness, composition, and coating. Therefore, no fixed ranking can be given based on the material name alone.

This sequential progression follows a clear technical logic. During fermentation, the focus is on the grape, extraction, and texture. Subsequently, the barriques add limited oxygen supply and wood components. In the glass: blackberry, blackcurrant, dark chocolate, tobacco, soft tannins, and length. Powerful, yet agile.

How terracotta began at Casadei

Around 2011, Stefano Casadei introduced terracotta vessels at all three estates. The impetus was a project in Azerbaijan, on the border with Georgia, where he came into contact with the Georgian qvevri tradition. That impression was strong enough to translate the principle to Tuscany and Sardinia. Initially as a component: a fraction of a blend, intended to add more fruit and freshness.

That changed because of their daughter Elena.

As Anna Baj Macario explained during the tasting, Elena dropped out of her engineering studies in Pisa after six months. Stefano was angry. His reaction, in Anna's words: "If you stop studying, you're going to work in the basement."

As a beginner, she was assigned the terracotta vats. After a year or two, she asked why all that work kept disappearing into other wines. Couldn't she turn it into an independent project?

This is how Le Anfore di Elena Casadei came into being : wines that are fermented and aged entirely in terracotta, with long macerations in Tuscan Impruneta terracotta vessels and Georgian qvevri. White and red, sourced from various family estates.

Three of the four red wines in the tasting demonstrate how Famiglia Casadei uses terracotta in accessible wines. A fraction here, partial fermentation there. That is cautious. Understandable, too: the public is watching, and production must remain profitable. At the same time, in this company, terracotta is both a radical instrument and a technical aid within regular blends.

It is precisely that partial use that is interesting. Full vinification in terracotta can easily become a style statement. A winemaker who runs twelve percent of a final blend through terracotta uses the material much more precisely: as a tool, not as doctrine. My initial skepticism about this proved premature.

Where BioIntegrale becomes tangible

Within the familiar combination of steel, cement, and wood, Casadei treats terracotta as a fully-fledged fourth possibility. Terracotta as a technological starting point; not as a gimmick.

That principle is not separate from the ten-point plan; it is an extension of it. Anna Baj Macario, co-owner of Castello del Trebbio, described BioIntegrale during the tasting as an ethical profile for the entire team: a tool to internally anchor the transition from conventional to organic, and from organic to biodynamic.
In this context, organic is the technique; BioIntegrale is the corporate story that links soil, hospitality, logistics, and family succession.

The choice of terracotta is also presented by Casadei itself as part of that BioIntegral logic: a rediscovery of old techniques within a philosophy that aims to limit interventions in the cellar and vineyard.

That is the difference compared to empty sustainability rhetoric. At Casadei, BioIntegrale is not just a manifesto; it also provides a tool that works in the cellar. Casadei’s terracotta wine barrels deserve a greater role in how this company presents itself. And the technical choices behind those wines deserve a much larger place in the company’s story. I say this as someone who thoroughly enjoyed drinking the four red wines, and who, afterwards, might actually have preferred to open Elena’s Le Anfore line.

The most original story of Famiglia Casadei lies in the cellar, where earthenware stands alongside steel, cement, and oak. Terracotta forms a category of its own there: it allows limited oxygen supply, emits far fewer recognizable vat aromas than new oak, and can, especially when buried, dampen temperature fluctuations.

Oenological literature now treats terracotta as a serious alternative to stainless steel, wood, and concrete, with properties such as oxygen permeability, porosity, and influence on wine development being systematically investigated. ¹

Casadei uses that tool cautiously, in modest fractions alongside familiar materials. That is precisely where the originality lies: terracotta as a targeted intervention in the vinification, rather than as a ostentatious style statement. That story deserves a much larger place in the company's presentation. And it is exactly the story I would have liked to explore in more detail during the tasting. But perhaps that opportunity will still come.

1. Esoyan, S., Loupiac, C., Hovhannisyan, N., Gougeon, R., Karbowiak, T., Michalke, B., Schmitt-Kopplin, P., Fontaine, C., Valange, S., & Bodart, P. R. (2023). Interaction between Armenian clay-based ceramics and model wine during storage . OENO One, 57 (2), 101–113. https://doi.org/10.20870/oeno-one.2023.57.2.7243 . ↩︎

All images provided by Famiglia Casadei.