Let's discover the Casa Raia brand: here is our interview

Casa Raia is an organic Tuscan farm, located on a promontory attached to the famous medieval city of Montalcino. It was founded in 2006, thanks to the winemakers Pierre Jean Monnoyer and his wife Kalyna who restored the vineyards with an unparalleled respect for the land.
They started with just one hectare of Sangiovese Grosso, an old vineyard planted in 1975 owned by their mother-in-law: “La Vigna Scarnacuoia”. Since its inception, the Casa Raia company has concentrated all its commitment to the production of natural wines as an expression of their deep commitment to quality.

Casa Raia covers 4.5 hectares of vineyards. The oldest vineyards date back 44 years, including the only hectare from which they make Brunello. The objective of the winery is to maintain biodiversity and the natural balance of the ecosystem, for this reason in autumn the soil is worked in a minimally invasive way and sown with a variety of organic plants and flowers that provide the soil's natural nourishment. Since 2009, the estate has obtained organic certification.

We like these realities, these producers of unique, certified and award-winning delicacies: they are real treasures embedded in our Peninsula between seas and mountains and in the most remote streets of villages and countryside. We don't stop to experience only their products, but we want to discover more closely the protagonists of this brand. That's why we sent some questions to those who manage communication with us.

Stay with us and get to know Casa Raia: read the answers!

• Who are we talking to?
  I am Pierre Jean Monnoyer, French/Corsican owner/viticulteur of the Casa Raia farm in Montalcino.
  
• Is the company family run? What year was it founded and how did the early years develop?
  Yes, it's family run. I created the company in 2006 with my wife and we had 3 beautiful children in Tuscany. We started with just one hectare of Brunello planted in 1975, then 5 years ago I bought another two hectares in Castiglione d'Orcia, where the Bevilo grape comes from. I built the cellar in 2009. I worked in other organic farms owned by friends, who hosted me to make my wine and in return I helped them. My friend oenologist Antonio Mori (from Frescobaldi) has also always helped me in this adventure. Since 2010 I started to ferment in my cellar and developed my own style.
  
• What is the real reason or the triggering fact behind the birth of this company and when did it happen?
  In 2006, the Pertimali company that rented my mother-in-law's vineyard had completed its rental contract (since 1997). I was working on the 2004-05 harvest with friends' companies and Lionel, a friend of the Cupano company where I was working, encouraged me to make wine with this hectare of Brunello, and he was convinced that my terroir could create extraordinary wines.
  
• What is your relationship with the land of origin and its typicality? And why do you want to tell them with your products?
  I make wines with respect for biodiversity and the life of the terroir. Without chemistry. Only sulfur and copper in the vineyard and So2 after malolactic fermentation (the minimum). I have been part of vinnatur.org since 2009 and now of Montalcino BIO. For me, agriculture for food should always take place without chemicals. It was natural for me to choose to make organic wine. I worked from 2010 to 2017 with the help of the family and the woof.it association. Since 2017 we have 1 worker/collaborator.
  
• What was the first product you created?
  Drink IGT waiting for Brunello 2006 (released in 2008)
  
• What is the product that today, on the other hand, do you consider “top”?
  Brunello di Montalcino
  
• And what is the product that in the entire history of the company has most carried with it the beating heart, philosophy and soul of the company itself?
  Brunello 2007, the first one I created directly from pruning to sale.
  
• Let's talk about today: how big has the company grown since its inception? Can we get some numbers?
  Today the company owns three hectares.
  
• Right now: more tradition or more innovation?
  They are not opposites: tradition is innovation over time. And it will always be like this for us.
  
• What was the most important evolution of the company to get it to what it is today?
  Hiring an employee in 2017... I just couldn't handle everything anymore!
  
• Speaking instead of the future: what tomorrow will the company wait for? Are there any changes or some new evolutionary process planned?
  I hope to build a larger winery in a few years. Currently what we have is tight.
  
• Are you planning to create new products?
  Certainly in the coming years.
  
• Having focused on Spaghetti
  S&M