THE PEOPLE

ATILLIO PAGLI

One of the world’s most prestigious consulting winemakers, Attilio works throughout Italy, as well as South America, and is featured in Decanter Magazine’s list of the world’s best winemakers – as judged by their peers.

As fascinating as the individual he creates, Attilio has an original vision of his work and a clear and coherent philosophy that has guided him towards the creation of some of the world's famous 100-point wines.
“I am not a celebrity, I am just someone who works in agriculture like everyone else; but I have been lucky enough to have the eyes, the nostrils and the palate that know how to recognize a great wine.

The most important thing is the vineyard: it is what gives vision and continuity. And that is why understanding and respecting the terroir is the most important attribute for anyone who wants to do this job. Wine must be a testimonial of its origins and its connection with its terroir, which is the sum of the climate, the soil, the people and the culture of a given territory.

Grapes have unique personalities and each one must be interpreted differently. My job is to ruin as little as possible of the raw materials that nature offers me, putting into the bottle as much of the fruit's potential as possible.

Attention to detail is equally fundamental, because in every vintage it is the little things that make the difference between a good wine and a great wine.”

Alex Burge

ALEX BURGE

Alex Burge is the CEO of Tenuta Cappellina and the man with the vision to convert Tenuta Cappellina into a sustainable, organic and award-winning winery. Alex has the distinction of being bilingual, with perfect knowledge of Italian and English, which is no surprise when you discover he is a product of English and Dutch parents, having grown up in Sicily, before returning to the UK to study at Cambridge.

His career then took him to Bordeaux, where he worked in the wine industry for several years as a Negociant, dealing with many of the top wine brands, before returning to his native Italy to head the sales and marketing departments at a number of well-known wineries.

Such a passion for wine eventually leads you to want to feel the grapes between your fingers, and the opportunity to direct a new project was too irresistible for Alex, who for the last decade has dedicated his life to the development of Tenuta Cappellina and its wines.