About this wine
Vineyard and terroir
Produced only in the highest-quality years from a manual selection of the best white grapes. The detailed technical description places the source vineyards in Salarco, at 350–450 metres above sea level, on Pliocene-origin clay and sand with south-eastern exposure. The vines are trained on a vertical trellis with spur-pruned cordons at 4,000 vines per hectare. The English product page instead identifies Pietra Rossa.
Grapes
40% Malvasia del Chianti, 40% Grechetto and 20% Trebbiano Toscano.
Vinification
The selected clusters are laid on mats woven from lake reeds and dried until the end of December, a period of approximately three months. The withered bunches are pressed without destemming. The must is transferred to 50–75 litre oak or chestnut caratelli, where fermentation develops with the aid of the existing madre del Vin Santo.
Ageing
Fermentation and prolonged maturation occur in the same caratelli for at least seven years. Individual barrels are then opened and tasted, followed by blending and bottling. A concise description gives a total of 7–10 years in wooden caratelli, while the English product page gives 5–8 years in 70 litre oak barrels.
Technical data
Production is approximately 1,200–1,500 bottles.
Tasting profile
Presented as a complete sensory experience resulting from long grape drying and extended maturation in small wooden caratelli.
Vintage notes
The wine is made only in vintages judged to be of the highest quality. The identified best vintages from the stated twenty-year period are 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2007.
