GRAPES:
Nero d’Avola 70%, Merlot 30%
VINEYARD AREAS:
Selected Organic vineyards in the province of Palermo, on the southern Italian island of Sicily.
AGE OF VINES:
Approximately 25 years old.
PLANT TRAINING AND DENSITY:
Guyot training. 4000 plants per hectare with an average yield of 1.5kg per plant.
HARVEST:
Manual harvest occurs towards the end of August for the Merlot, approximately 2 weeks later, around the middle of September, for the Nero d’Avola.
VINIFICATION:
The two grape varieties are vinified separately using the same technique. After de-stemming, the grapes are not crushed, allowing them to remain intact, reducing damage to the skins and optimizing color extraction. Fermentation takes place at a controlled temperature of 25°C for 10 days. Both remontage and delestage are carried out in the early stages of fermentation in order to achieve soft extraction of aromas and gentle tannins. After racking, malolactic bacteria are added to induce a second fermentation. The two wines are then blended in early March.
AGING:
2 months in bottle prior to release.
ALCOHOL:
13.5%