Making the wine

Charlotte Horton planted the 4 ha vineyard to exploit Potentino’s microclimate for Pinot Noir, Alicante and Sangiovese. Planting density is 5,000 vines per hectare, while green pruning limits yields to 65 quintals per hectare. Total production is approximately 20,000 bottles annually.

The vines are tended and harvested by hand. Grapes are picked carefully to prevent damage before arrival, allowing fermentation to begin under controlled cellar conditions. Only wild yeasts from the skins conduct fermentation, without industrial aids. After fermentation and racking, the skins drain freely rather than being pressed, reducing the extraction of harder tannins.

The wines spend most of their cellar life in wood and are fermented and stored in 5,000-litre French Allier oak vats. Barriques and wood chips are not used. The wines are not fined or heavily filtered, and sulphites are the only additives, used below the maximum level permitted for organically certified Italian wines. Written by Georgi Georgiev.