Boss II
EN|IT
The vineyard and olive terraces above the Sieve valley

Podere Querceto · Rufina · Tuscany

Made withour own hands

At Podere Querceto, in the hills of Rufina, we make wine on a very small scale: just under one hectare of vineyard, farmed organically, and around 3,000 bottles a year.

The winesHow to buy

We are involved in every stage of the wine, from pruning and harvesting to fermentation, ageing and bottling. We work slowly, by hand, and according to what the vineyard and the wine need rather than what the calendar tells us.

There is no large production here, and no outside fruit. Just one small vineyard, a handful of people, and a great deal of care.

Punching down the cap during fermentation

Time is part of the wine

We do not rush the wine to meet a release date. We bottle when tasting tells us it is ready.

Our wines are made with natural yeasts and fermented in open vats. We punch down by hand and give the reds time in French oak — usually second- and third-fill barrels — before we decide they are ready for the bottle.

The reds may spend two to four years in wood. Our rosato is aged for three to five months.

The aim is not to make the biggest or most powerful wine, but one with perfume, depth and structure, with tannins that have had time to soften.

I

Organic, by hand

The vineyard was planted in 2012 with Sangiovese and Merlot on the galestro soils of the Rufina hills.

II

By hand

We farm organically, using copper and sulphur where needed. Pruning, mowing and much of the work between the vines are done by hand.

III

Certified

The estate is certified organic by Suolo e Salute.

The hills above Rufina

A cooler corner of Tuscany

Rufina, the upper Sieve valley

Rufina is one of the smallest and most distinctive wine areas within Chianti. Just east of Florence, the upper Sieve Valley is cooler and more elevated than much of central Tuscany.

At around 500 metres above the valley, our vineyard benefits from the altitude and the character of the hills around it.

It is a quieter, more intimate side of Tuscany — and a place where we believe Sangiovese and Merlot can show something of their own character.

Our wines

We make four wines, in small quantities:

  • GRVIII — Toscana Merlot IGT · 100% Merlot
  • BYOB — Toscana Rosso IGT · Sangiovese & Merlot
  • TGIF — Toscana Sangiovese IGT · 100% Sangiovese
  • ASAP — Toscana Rosato IGT · 100% Sangiovese
See the wines
The four Boss II wines

The Estate

A small estate in the hills above the Sieve

Podere Querceto is a small family-run estate in Rufina, around 20 kilometres east of Florence.

Why we stay small

The vineyard covers just under one hectare, with around 200 olive trees growing among the vines and terraces.

We are not trying to become a large winery. The scale is deliberate. It allows us to stay close to the vineyard, to work with our own fruit, and to know what is happening in every row.

We make around 3,000 bottles a year.

That is enough for us.

A larger estate would require a different way of working — more production, more people, and inevitably more distance between us and the vineyard.

We prefer to remain close to the work and to the wine.

Every bottle begins with a small piece of land and passes through our hands.

The vineyard

The vineyard was planted in 2012 with Sangiovese and Merlot.

At around 500 metres above the Sieve Valley, the site is relatively cool for Tuscany. The soil is predominantly galestro, and the altitude gives the grapes time to ripen slowly.

We prune in March and April, paying attention to the physiological balance of each vine rather than treating the vineyard as a uniform block.

Much of the work is done by hand. We mow between the vines ourselves and keep the vineyard carefully managed without trying to force it into a particular shape.

At harvest, the grapes are picked by hand and brought into the cellar in small crates.

In the cellar

The same approach continues once the grapes arrive in the cellar.

Fermentation takes place with natural yeasts in open vats. We punch down by hand and follow each ferment closely.

The reds are aged in French oak, generally using second- and third-fill barrels. They may remain there for two to four years, depending on the vintage and the wine.

The rosato spends around three to five months in wood.

We use no additions beyond trace sulphur.

Most importantly, we do not decide in advance exactly when a wine must be bottled. We taste it, and when it is ready, we bottle it.

The vineyard rows above the Sieve valley
Barrels in the cellar at Podere Querceto
The cellar

The People

A small team

BOSS II is a family business, run by Bill and Olga, with a small team around them.

Bill Shoff and Olga Selivanova-Shoff at Podere Querceto

Bill

Bill oversees the vineyard and cellar and is involved in the winemaking from harvest onwards.

His background is in energy, and after moving to California he studied oenology at UC Davis. He later established his first wine business there before coming to Tuscany.

For Bill, making wine starts with the vineyard.

“I am living my childhood dream. What is important to me is to be involved in every step of the process to make sure I know every grape that goes into our wines and what is going on in the cellar.”

Olga Selivanova-Shoff in the vineyard

Olga

Olga found Podere Querceto and helped establish the business in Italy.

She spent around 30 years as an executive headhunter and knows how to read a contract, negotiate a deal and deal with bureaucracy.

The vineyard was a different matter.

Today, she works alongside Bill in the vineyard and across the estate.

“It has been a steep learning curve for me: from learning Italian and navigating the Italian bureaucracy to learning how to care about vines and knowing my way around the cellar, as well as create labels and sell the wine. It has been a challenging but a fascinating journey.”

Ilaria Sauri at Podere Querceto

Ilaria Sauri

Ilaria looks after the vineyard, olive grove and grounds.

She is an important part of the daily life of the estate, helping keep the land tended and cared for throughout the year.

The vineyard at harvest

Paolo Marchi

Paolo Marchi is our agronomist and oenologist. He follows the wine through its development and works with us on the technical side of winemaking.

His role complements the hands-on work that Bill and the rest of the team carry out at the estate, helping us understand what the vineyard and the wine are telling us as each vintage develops.

Our Story

We began again, on older soil

Before Podere Querceto, there was California.

In 2009, we bought a ranch there and began working towards a life built around wine and the land. We were based in London and spent years travelling back and forth.

Bill had studied oenology at UC Davis, and our first vineyard was between Napa and Sonoma.

Then, in September 2020, the Glass Fire came through.

The vines survived.

Almost everything else was lost.

We had a choice: rebuild what we had lost or begin again somewhere else.

We chose somewhere else.

Finding Podere Querceto

We found Podere Querceto in the hills of Rufina, east of Florence.

It was an old podere, named for the oak grove that once surrounded it. There was sunlight, open land and the possibility of starting again.

We bought the estate and established BOSS II.

Why BOSS II?

The name BOSS comes from our initials: Bill and Olga Selivanova-Shoff.

The II has a deeper meaning.

BOSS II is our second beginning in wine.

Before Tuscany, we had a wine company in California, BOSS Management. We built it around our first vineyard and our life there, before the Glass Fire of 2020 destroyed almost everything we had built.

Coming to Podere Querceto was not simply a move to another wine region. It was a chance to begin again — on older soil, in a different landscape, and with the same belief that brought us into wine in the first place.

So BOSS II means both Bill and Olga Selivanova-Shoff and a second chapter.

It is the continuation of a story that began in California and found a new home in Tuscany.

A second beginning

Today, the estate is organically farmed and deliberately small.

Just under one hectare of vineyard.

Around 3,000 bottles a year.

Long ageing in French oak.

And the same ambition that brought us into wine in the first place:

to make one beautiful, honest, delicious thing on this earth, with our own hands.

The Wines

We make four wines, in small quantities

Bottle of Boss II GRVIII

01

GRVIII

Toscana Merlot IGT

100% Merlot

Our Merlot comes from the warmest rows of the vineyard.

It is dark and savoury, with notes of plum, dried fig and cedar, followed by a long, savoury finish.

It is a wine that benefits from time in the glass. Give it at least 30 minutes after opening and it begins to unfold.

A natural partner for roast meat and other richer dishes.

Most people’s favourite so we called it GRVIII (great)!!!

Aged in second- and third-fill French oak for approximately 24–48 months.

750 ml

Bottle of Boss II BYOB

02

BYOB

Toscana Rosso IGT

Sangiovese & Merlot

BYOB brings together the lift and acidity of Sangiovese with the flesh and depth of Merlot.

There is sour cherry, freshness and enough structure to make it interesting, but it is also a wine you can simply open and drink without thinking too much about it.

Enjoy at home or “bring it your own bottle” when you visit friends. Or just be your own BOSS!

Aged in second- and third-fill French oak for approximately 24–48 months.

Bottle of Boss II TGIF

03

TGIF

Toscana Sangiovese IGT

100% Sangiovese

Our Sangiovese comes from a cool, high corner of the vineyard where the grapes ripen late.

It is a more restrained expression of the variety, with wild cherry, dried herbs, iron and fine, dusty tannins.

This is the kind of bottle that works particularly well with food. A wine to look forward to all week and then enjoy when Thank God It’s Friday!

Aged in second- and third-fill French oak for approximately 24–48 months.

Bottle of Boss II ASAP

04

ASAP

Toscana Rosato IGT

100% Sangiovese

ASAP is made from Sangiovese picked early and pressed directly off the skins.

Only a small quantity is made each year.

It is fresh and savoury, with wild strawberry, blood-orange peel and a saline finish.

The wine spends around three to five months in wood and is best enjoyed young, as soon as possible.

13% vol.

How to Buy

Our wines are available directly from the cellar and by post.

We release small quantities, and availability changes as wines are bottled and sold.

You can buy a single bottle or a case.

Around 3,000 bottles a year are shared between restaurants, private customers and visitors to the estate.

If you are in the trade and would like technical sheets or our current availability, please get in touch.

Contact us

Olive Oil

From the same hillside

Our olive trees grow among the vines and along the terraces of Podere Querceto.

We farm them organically and keep the grass around the trees under control by hand.

It is slower work, but there is a reason for it.

A machine can strike an olive tree, and an olive tree remembers that for years.

The olives are harvested in autumn, usually around early November, and pressed for organic extra virgin olive oil.

We offer the oil in 5-litre and 0.75-litre tins.

Quantities and prices vary from harvest to harvest. If you would like some, we recommend reserving early.

We have customers who have been buying our oil for years, including friends and customers across Europe and the UK.

Contact us
New olive oil from the estate

The estate through the year

A few pictures

A barrel of Sangiovese in the cellarGrapes brought into the cellar in small cratesWorking between the vinesSangiovese before the harvestThe pergola at the podereOlive terraces above the valley
The farmhouse at Podere Querceto

Stay With Us

Stay at Podere Querceto

There are three beautifully appointed suites at Agriturismo Podere Querceto.

You can book one suite for a stay in the hills of Rufina, or all three for a family or group.

For availability and reservations, please contact us directly or book through Booking.com.

Contact usBook on Booking.com

Contact

Come to the podere

Podere Querceto is around 30 minutes east of Florence, in the upper Sieve Valley.

The Estate

BOSS II · Podere Querceto
Localita Falgano 75/A
50068 Rufina (FI)
Tuscany, Italy

A family-run estate

We are a small, family-run estate. Bill and Olga run the business and work in the vineyard and cellar. Ilaria looks after the vineyard, olive grove and grounds. Paolo Marchi follows the wine as agronomist and oenologist.

There are no investors or large production teams behind BOSS II. Every bottle passes through our hands.

Visits

Visits are by advance arrangement.

Write to us

Email: Boss2info@gmail.com

Telephone: +44 7795 968314

podere_querceto

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