About this wine
Vineyard and terroir
The 2023 wine comes from 11 certified-organic vineyards. Five Merlot vineyards in Cazzago San Martino and Passirano average 31 years of age. Four Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards, one Cabernet Franc vineyard and one Carménère vineyard in Passirano average 32 years.
Grapes
The 2023 blend is 41% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc and 17% Carménère. Merlot supplies fruit and personality, Cabernet Franc elegance, Carménère roundness and Cabernet Sauvignon the structural backbone associated with balance and longevity.
Vinification
The grapes are hand-picked into small coded crates and cold-stored. Bunches are individually selected, washed in three soaking tanks and thoroughly dried. The clusters are transported above the maceration vat and destemmed, allowing intact berries to fall directly into small oak vats without pumping.
Alcoholic fermentation and maceration are temperature-controlled. The cap is punched down repeatedly and the fermenting wine is mixed daily by gravity with elevator tanks. Skin contact lasts 21 days for Merlot, Carménère and Cabernet Franc and 22 days for Cabernet Sauvignon. After drawing off, the warm wine enters small oak barrels for malolactic fermentation. It is racked and assembled in mid-winter, then matures for approximately 23 months in oak and stainless steel.
Gravity bottling through long-nozzle fillers minimises agitation and oxidative stress. No sulphites are added at bottling, and every bottle is individually coded for traceability. The 2023 was bottled in August 2025 and rests for at least four further months.
Technical data
The 2023 yield was 5,600 kg of grapes per hectare, equivalent to 3,590 litres of wine and a grape-to-wine yield of 64%. Alcohol is 13.00% vol., pH 3.39, total acidity 5.30 g/L and volatile acidity 0.41 g/L. Total sulphur dioxide is below 66 mg/L.
Vintage notes
The 2023 season moved between climatic extremes. A cold, wet spring brought frost risk at budbreak, followed by a cool summer until 10 August and then 20 days of heat. Late-August rain refreshed the black grapes as they approached full ripeness, while September remained almost summer-like. Some parcels were thinned to reduce crop load. Merlot was harvested on 11–14 September, followed by Cabernet and Carménère on 3–4 October. The healthy grapes showed strong sugar and colour concentration.
Label / history
First vinified in 1975, the wine revives the local red blend traditionally known as “burdonsì magher.” It was initially called Franciacorta Rosso DOC, then Terre di Franciacorta and Curtefranca Rosso. The name Corte del Lupo was adopted with the 2016 harvest. Its label depicts the vineyard, the court, surrounding woods and the wolves portrayed as guardians of the estate.
