The People
Located in the heart of Chianti, Le Miccine is really an international endeavor. Click on any of the thumb-nail photos below for larger views; then use your Web-Browser's Back Button to return to this page.
The Owners
Americans Clif and Donna Meneghetti Weaver purchased Le Miccine in 1996, after successful careers in other fields.
Clif,
an attorney whose private-practice clients included many local and state
governments and agencies, now supervises the vineyard and cantina; Donna, a
former university administrator, manages vacation rentals, Le Miccine's
accounting functions, and the website.
The Staff in Italy
The
friendly gal most often in Le Miccine's tasting room is Dagmar Wunsche, the farm
manager. Dagmar came
to Chianti on her honeymoon from Stuttgart, Germany, and she and her husband
never left! They now reside in nearby Cavriglia with their two sons.
In addition to the tasting room, Dagmar also supervises the other workers, handles local sales to restaurants
and shops, oversees the gardens, takes care of Le Miccine's vacation rental guests,
and still manages to find time to take responsibility for the bottled inventory
and hold down the fort in the office.
Dario
Capacci works part-time in the fields at Le Miccine--driving the
tractor to work the ground and administer sprays--and he's an important part of the team at harvest and bottling
time. Dario originally worked at Le Miccine in the early 1970s, during
which he worked to plant the vineyard behind the residence.
Vasile Pintea came to Le Miccine from Romania. Vasile is Le Miccine's lead farm worker, working primarily in the fields, where he prunes, ties, and harvests; and in the cantina, where he works together with the owners and Dagmar to make Le Miccine's wines.
Florin Bebeselea joined the staff at Le Miccine in January 2007. Like Vasile, Florin,
who is called "Fiorico" by his Italian friends,
hails from Romania. Prior to coming to Le Miccine, Florin worked
three growing-seasons for Castello di Meleto. Florin works with Vasile in the fields and
cantina, and he assists Dagmar with the gardens and swimming pool.
Le
Miccine's newest employee is Johannes Wunsche, Dagmar's son! Johannes
fills in in the Tasting Room one or two afternoons each week, where he's working
on improving his English skills; and he provides German and Italian translation
services, as well.
Vittorio
Fiore, Le Miccine's consulting enologist, is widely acknowledged as one of
the driving forces in Italian wine-making and frequently credited with changing
the face of Chianti. Vittorio and his son, Claudio, are familiar
faces to the staff at Le Miccine, where they design the plan for vinification,
aging, and blending of Le Miccine's wines.
Dr. Remigio Bordini comes to Le Miccine as a consulting agronomist from the
University of Bologna. Dr. Bordini worked with the Weavers and Vittorio
Fiore to plan the replanting and training system of Le Miccine's fields and
monitors the health of the plants on a regular basis. Widely recognized
for his research in viticulture, Dr. Bordini was awarded an honorary doctorate
by the University of California at Davis.