Le Crocine

Le Crocine, a boutique winery that represents the perfect synthesis of visceral passion, profound respect for the land, and a constant quest for pure emotion within a glass. Born from the intuition of Niccolò Marzichi Lenzi and shared, step by step, with his wife Joy Green, this estate stands today as one of the most fascinating and dynamic gems in the winemaking landscape of Tuscany.

The History: From a Spark to a Shared Dream

It all began in 1993 when Niccolò, at just 16 years old, happened to taste a 1982 Château Haut-Brion almost by chance. That unexpected encounter opened the doors to a completely new world: wine ceased to be just a pleasant drink and transformed into a vehicle for deep, complex emotions. After years spent traveling the world, tasting, and understanding the secrets of great international blends, the birth of his first child prompted Niccolò to return to his roots.

Having grown up on a traditional Tuscan farm amidst the classic aromas of Sangiovese, he decided to bring his ultimate dream to life: producing his own wine, one that spoke the language of pure elegance. Today, together with Joy, that dream has become a splendid production reality, driven by a single great goal: to offer sincere and unforgettable pleasure to anyone who pours a glass of Le Crocine.

The Terroir: The Art of Métissage

The strength of Le Crocine lies in its ability to masterfully value an area extraordinarily suited for premium viticulture, moving beyond traditional boundaries. Niccolò and Joy do not limit themselves to a single vineyard; instead, they select grapes with meticulous precision from the finest sub-zones and parcels of the region, adapting their choice to the trend of each vintage and the desired style.

This approach, elegantly referred to by the French term métissage (the blending of cultures, grape varieties, and micro-terroirs), enriches the estate's red wines, endowing them with a multifaceted, deep, and unique identity. To map and respect this diversity, every single parcel is harvested and vinified separately, preserving the purest and most pristine expression of its soil of origin.

Winemaking: Absolute Respect for the Raw Material

In the cellar, the watchword is gentleness. Human intervention is kept to an absolute minimum, allowing nature to express itself and tell the story of the vintage through the glass:

• Rigorous Selection: The grapes, hand-picked at perfect ripeness, are carefully destemmed and sorted berry by berry on the sorting table, eliminating any green or less ripe residues that could compromise the elegance of the wine.
• Gravity and Naturalness: The selected berries fall by gravity—without the use of stressful mechanical pumps—directly into small stainless steel vats.
• Spontaneous Fermentation: Following a brief cold maceration to extract the freshest aromatic precursors, fermentation begins spontaneously, driven exclusively by the wild, indigenous yeasts present on the grape skins.
• Gentle Extraction: During the 7 to 10 days of temperature-controlled fermentation (maintained at 28–30°C), only delicate punch-downs and pump-overs are performed. The goal is to extract the noblest character and the silkiest tannins of the variety, without any structural forcing or over-extraction.