Ep 569: The Masters of Vernaccia di San Gimignano Cappella Sant’Andrea with Owner & Winemaker Francesco Galgani

Wine for Normal People

Alcohol, Lifestyle, Arts, Education, Food, Wine, Dining, Grapes

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 2 July 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Last fall, I met Francesco Galgani and tried his wines and I was completely blown away. I always think of Vernaccia as a more historical Pinot Grigio -- light on flavor, boring, and not anything to get excited about. But then I visited Cappella Sant'Andrea.

HOLY CRAP!! This is the BEST Vernaccia on earth. Francesco and Flavia, the owners and winemakers, are truly the Masters of Vernaccia di San Gimignano. You will never taste Vernaccia like this.

In the show Francesco and I discuss the long history of Vernaccia, wine in San Gimignano, why there is so much crappy Vernaccia, and how they do it right. Their Rialto and Prima Luce, especially are stunning. I can't sing their praises more.

Two things mentioned in the show:

Follow Francesco on IG, he's a brilliant artist: @francescogalgani
If you want to order directly from Francesco, and have the wine shipped from Italy, please visit their website: https://www.cappellasantandrea.it/chi-siamo1 and you can contact them for orders and pricing!

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Wine for Normal People, the podcast for people who like wine, but not the snobbery that goes with it.
0:15.9	I'm your host, Elizabeth Schneider, author of the Wine for Normal People book, and Certified Wine Dork.
0:21.8	Join me as I hit record on this conversation with a friend in the wine industry.
0:26.2	This and all shows with guests are informal that educational discussions between passionate
0:30.9	wine friends. All guests are personal friends or friends of friends in wine, not strangers.
0:36.2	And like any conversation between friends, we're going to talk back and forth, interrupt
0:40.4	each other, laugh, have fun, debate, tough questions, voice opinions.
0:45.0	Most of all, enjoy sharing our time together and with you.
0:48.1	If you're in, pour yourself a glass, pull up a chair, and join us for this great chat.
0:54.5	It's summertime, but you can still order wine for my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access,
0:59.5	who makes this show possible. They have tons of options to get the wines to you in great
1:04.0	shape this summer. So make sure you order that rosé, that sparkling, that white wine or light
1:09.4	red that you want. go to wine access.com
1:11.9	slash WFMP or join my wine club and gear up for an awesome French shipment this fall.
1:17.4	Wineaccess.com slash normal.
1:19.5	Listen in the middle of the show for more details.
1:23.0	Last fall, I had the opportunity to visit Flavia Delcetta and Francesco Galgani with the patron group in San Gimino in Tuscany.
1:33.4	And I have had wines made from Vernace, but I have never had anything close to the complex, delicious, head-turning, organically farmed Vernace de San Gimino of Capella Sant'Angriya.
1:48.7	Capella, Santhandria is a 30 hectare, 75-acre estate in the Tuscan Hills.
1:54.5	It's just outside the medieval city of San Gimiano, and it's named after St. Andrea's Chapel. It's a working farm. It only has a few
2:03.7	hectares devoted to viticulture, but what Francesco and Flavia are doing here is something so
2:10.8	different. The wines are full of texture, of depth. They show potential for aging, and this runs counter to all of the pinogrigio-like wines
	...

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