Born to be a winemaker: Manfred Ing of Tuscan trailblazer Querciabella

I grew up in KwaZulu Natal, no vineyards anywhere nearby, but I was born in the Cape and we’d drive down for summer holidays. My first memory of vineyards is swimming in the reservoir of La Motte [wine estate in Franschhoek]. There’s photos of me and Reenen [Borman, of Boschkloof] and his older brother. I remember the heat, and all of the vineyards.

My mother’s Italian; my grandparents moved from Sardinia via Brazil to South Africa. Food and wine has been important in my life since I was born – dinner is family together in the kitchen. My grandfather grew grapes in Sardinia before he left. My mum says I got my green fingers from him because he could grow anything.

I was very good at science and maths at school. I didn't know at the time that the wine would become art, but I enjoy art, music [and] cooking. I’ve always taken the road less travelled and for work experience in my second-to-last year of high school my dad said, "let's drive down to the Cape". I spent a few days with Jacques Borman, who was still at La Motte. I went back to school and I was like, “I’m going to do winemaking”. They all thought I was crazy.

When I went to university [in Stellenbosch] aged 17 I couldn’t even order wine! But I started to study it. Once I got my degree, I just wanted to learn [more] and I set off around the world – I flew to the North Island of New Zealand to work my first vintage.

The more I did it, the more I loved it. I feel like I was born to do this; I'm very fortunate that I found my passion very young in my career.

Mother Nature is in control, [but] I’m very competitive and I’m here to win – no matter what nature throws at us. At Querciabella, we’re very precise: maximum attention allows for minimal intervention. If you’re as precise as possible, you can be preventative rather than curative. That is a philosophy I’ve learnt from some of my mentors around the world.

We don’t have any recipes. We have a procedure in our brain on how we're going to do it, [but] no two vintages are the same.

I've been very fortunate that I've worked with winemakers who instilled a great structure of correct winemaking.

My first harvest was with a chemist winemaker, Francois Naudé [at l’Avenir]. That appealed to me immensely because chemistry was one of my major subjects at university. If you don’t understand chemistry, you can’t fix things. But my next harvest was with Gordon Russell at Esk Valley, who’s an artist.

[At Querciabella] There is not a recipe per se. There’s a standard procedure we try to follow but we have always been pioneers of innovation. The [Castiglioni] family is very open-minded. We respect the tradition but there’s a very modern approach to winemaking. We’re playing around with many different things, but you’ve got to get the simple things right.

I think people are becoming more surprised at the quality of Chianti Classico. We have an amazing Consorzio, [and] their leadership is driving innovation. The sons and daughters of winemakers are now taking the reins – like me, they are travelling the world, seeing different styles. So I think the quality of Chianti Classico, of Tuscan wines, is definitely improving.

It’s an exciting time and I’m very proud. I think the region has done an amazing job; you’ve got your pyramid, your Chianti Classico, Riserva, Gran Selezione [since 2014] and now the UGA [zones; Unità Geografica Aggiuntiva] – for us at Querciabella that’s the tip of the spear. It’s showing people that fine wine can be done in the Chianti Classico region.

When I’m not making wine or travelling, I’m cooking. I have six or seven wooden boxes filled with different spices from around the world. I’ve spent a lot of time travelling with Querciabella in Asia, and I like to bring back Asian influences. My birthday present this year was a bigger, better wok.

[Also] I’m South African and I was born next to a braai – a barbecue. I like to cook with flames. I have three to four different types of barbecues. We eat many different styles and flavours and that’s why I drink many different styles and flavours.

Travelling in Asia changed my whole approach to wine pairing. At a Cantonese table, it literally starts turning and different flavours come. You can’t serve your light white wine to start off, paired with antipasti, and then go from Chianti Classico to Riserva…You’ve got to put them all on the table and let people enjoy it. At home, that’s kind of the approach.

There is a certain point where the spices on some plates can be a little bit overwhelming, but I think Sangiovese – even slightly chilled – works magically. It has got freshness, it opens up your palate, it’s got high acid.

If it’s Thai-style with creaminess then something with a bit of acidity is good to freshen it up. If it’s a smoky Korean barbecue, with kimchi maybe, a nice spicy Syrah, or even a Cabernet or our Camartina [Toscana IGT] – which has got the spice of the Cabernet with a Sangiovese lift – can work well.

I don’t think there’s a right and wrong. If you want to drink our Camartina with fish, I’m not going to tell you that you’re wrong.

I think the beauty of Italy is you can drive off any little road into some little borgo and find a beautiful small bar [or] enoteca. In Volpaia [for example], there is Bar-Ucci, where you can get beautiful local flavours – local to that hill. Unfortunately, you need to have a car.

There are also historic restaurants; Ristoro di Lamole up in Lamole where I live, the sunset from there is absolutely magic. In Panzano [in Chianti], you’ve got Dario Cecchini (Antica Macelleria Cecchini) who people may know from Chef’s Table on Netflix, and Enoteca Baldi, which has got one of the best wine lists that rivals any top restaurant in New York or London. There are so many little gems off the beaten track. I’ve been here 16 years and even we stumble across new spots.

There are so many. If I must choose just one then Bocca di Lupo. I love to go there. The flavours are on-point for all the different styles of food they have from right across Italy. Saying that, a Sunday roast in some little pub with a pint of ale is equally as magic. There’s a little pub near Paddington. I fly in on a Sunday morning so that I can go there.

I’ve got a couple of hundred bottles in South Africa where I’ve been buying from different wine clubs. I buy a lot of old South African wine at auction with a friend of mine.

Here [in Italy] also, I collect. I love to enjoy wines [after] more than a year or two in-bottle. It’s hard in Italy to buy older wines, so I’ll buy [new vintages] and try to drink it a few years later if I can behave myself. I put my best wines underneath and then pile other stuff on top so that it’s a mission to get to!

I’m very sentimental, so I’ll get a wine with a friend and say, “Ok, we’ll drink this again next time I see you”. But I also don’t like to keep wines for [too] long. I’d rather have an empty bottle there and say, "remember when we drank that?”, than let a wine go past its best.

I love stand-up paddle (SUP). I can just turn my brain off and enjoy nature. [In the summer] I spent two weeks paddling lakes in northern Italy. I’m the first person on the water, at like half-six in the morning, because it’s flat and I want to see the sun come up.

When I was in New Zealand I played cricket in summer and rugby in winter. Here, we live in the mountains so we do a lot of walking and hiking. If I’m not moving or chasing my kids on their bikes, [it’s] cooking. I enjoy being creative in a different way.

You will struggle to find a more passionate South African rugby fan. I’ve been to Paris for one day in my life and I didn’t see the Eiffel Tower, but I went to Stade de France and saw us beat New Zealand in the [2023 World Cup] final. The only time I’ll support Italy against South Africa is if either one of my boys plays for Italy!