Why it matters
The producer
Lorenzo Zonin makes two wines at Fattoria Amo, a small estate at Località Monte Oliveto in San Gimignano, Siena. Both are Vernaccia di San Gimignano. One is a still white fermented across stainless steel and oak. The other is a pétillant naturel that ships with its yeast sediment still in the bottle.
That second wine is the reason to pay attention. Pét-nat is bottled before primary fermentation finishes, trapping carbon dioxide as the remaining sugar converts. Rebel remains unusual because Zonin does not disgorge it afterward. The sediment formed during that in-bottle fermentation stays. The wine arrives cloudy, settles on the shelf, and the yeast remains through the last pour.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
San Gimignano is a walled hilltop town in the Siena province of Tuscany, medieval enough that its towers appear on every Tuscan tourism poster and wine enough that Vernaccia di San Gimignano holds its own DOC appellation, one of the oldest in Italy.
Fattoria Amo sits at 300 metres on soils that carry marine fossils: clay and sediment laid down when this part of Tuscany was under the sea. That altitude moderates summer heat and slows ripening, which in Vernaccia translates to acidity that survives into the bottle. The estate occupies a landscape of vineyards, olive trees, and old oaks.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Fattoria Amo farms Vernaccia di San Gimignano on the clay-marine soils at Monte Oliveto. No animal-derived products are used in cultivation or in the cellar. The wines are not filtered at any stage.
For Ann, the 2022 vintage split fermentation equally between stainless steel tanks and a 500-litre French oak barrel. Both halves went through full malolactic fermentation, converting the grape's naturally sharp malic acid into the softer lactic acid. The wine aged approximately seven months before bottling. Total acidity for the 2022 vintage is 6.4 g/L with a pH of 3.35.
Wines to know
The range in view
Fattoria Amo produces two wines, both from 100% Vernaccia di San Gimignano.
Ann is the still white. The 2022 vintage shows what half-and-half fermentation across stainless steel and 500-litre oak does to Vernaccia: the steel portion keeps the grape's characteristic citrus cut, while the oak half adds texture and a mild creaminess from the full malolactic fermentation. The acidity remains measurable at 6.4 g/L, so the wine holds its line despite the roundness the oak brings. Approximately seven months of ageing allows the two halves to integrate. Ann is labelled as Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOC in some markets and as white Toscana IGT in the United States.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with Rebel. It is a 100% Vernaccia pétillant naturel that has never been disgorged, sold with its yeast sediment intact in the bottle. Pour it carefully and it reads as a bright, mineral sparkling white from one of Tuscany's oldest grape varieties. Swirl the sediment in and it becomes something denser and more yeasty. The wine communicates Zonin's entire production logic in a single pour: one vessel from beginning to end, no animal-derived fining, no filtration, no added sulphites, the grape's own acidity carrying the freshness. It is also the clearest illustration of how Vernaccia behaves outside the conventional still-white format for which San Gimignano is known.