Questo vino
Vineyard and terroir
Rosa del Castagno comes from Syrah grown in the estate vineyards at Cortona. Yields are deliberately kept to a maximum of 50 quintals per hectare from a planting density of 5,000 vines per hectare. The fruit is selected specifically for this rosé, both before and during harvest. Its character is closely associated with Cortona’s terroir and the distinctive soils of the estate vineyards.
Grapes
100% Syrah.
Vinification
Harvest normally takes place at the end of August, ahead of the Syrah picked for the estate’s red wines. The grapes are gathered exclusively by hand at dawn and placed in small, perforated 15 kg crates.
The wine is made by true white vinification. The fruit undergoes extremely gentle crushing and destemming, leaving the berries intact, and is immediately pressed with equal care for no more than about three hours. Only the free-run must passes into steel tanks. Fermentation lasts approximately 15 days at a low temperature of 12–16°C, with no further contact between juice and skins.
Ageing
Maturation lasts approximately six months at low temperature on the fine lees, punctuated by frequent bâtonnage. Natural stabilization and clarification in the cellar precede bottling.
Technical data
- Classification: Toscana IGT
- Alcohol: 12%
- Annual production: approximately 10,000 bottles
- Bottle format: 750 ml
- Yield: maximum 50 quintals/ha, equivalent to 5,000 kg/ha
- Planting density: 5,000 vines/ha
Tasting profile
The wine is a delicate salmon pink with amber reflections. Its fragrance is fresh, floral and fruity, with rose and red-berry notes. The palate is textured, crisp, taut, juicy and intense, combining marked acidity with savoury character and pronounced minerality. It remains fine and elegant through a persistent finish.
Published tasting assessments add nuances of strawberry, cherry, pink guava, cream and tulip; apple jelly, nectarine and lily of the valley; cherry, citrus, red flowers and white pepper; and wild raspberry, cassis, bitter almond, blue flowers and crushed limestone. The palate has been described as medium-bodied, lithe and structured, with lively acidity, freshness, continuous texture, juiciness and a long, savoury close.
Serving and pairing
Serve at 8–10°C. Conceived as a Syrah rosé for drinking throughout the year rather than only in spring and summer, it can take the place of a white wine at the table and has the capacity to evolve in bottle.
Label / history
Rosa del Castagno began as a challenge: to make a substantial, age-worthy rosé at Cortona through white vinification of the estate’s Syrah. The intended style was balanced, textured and crisp, with tension, succulence, intensity, finesse and length.
