Vintage Description

Mild spring temperatures brought on an early start of the vegetation period. The summer months were exceptionally sunny and dry. However, cool nights still allowed for the balanced development of physiological ripeness. Thanks to a cool September, maturation slowed, resulting in an excellent harvest of optimally mature grapes. Our elegant white wines show marked juiciness, depth and manifold aromas; the red wines are fruity, intense and full of character. 

Winemaking

The grapes are harvested by hand into small bins, with careful attention to every berry, and gently pressed after a short period of maceration. After destemming and compaction, a short period of maceration at low temperature follows, then gentle pressing. Fermentation takes place slowly, for more than 4 weeks at a controlled temperature of 18°C, before it is stopped by cooling to 5°C for 10 days. The wine is then transferred into small stainless-steel tanks.

MATURATION
Maturation takes place in small steel tanks with constant contact with the lees for 8 months, whereas must is clarified through natural sedimentation of the particles. After bottling, the wine is carried to the Ridanna Monteneve mine, at over 2,000 m in altitude. Here, the wine ages in the dark for nearly 6 years, 4 km deep in the mine, in an environment that maintains constant 90% humidity and a temperature of 11°C all year long, with the air pressure the same as outdoors.