GRAPES:
100% Aglianico
ALCOHOL:
13%
VINEYARD AREA:
Selected low-yielding vineyards in the province of Avellino, in the Campania region of Southern Italy.
AGE OF VINES:
In average 20 years old.
PLANT TRAINING AND DENSITY:
Cordon Spur. Approximately 4000 plants per hectare with a yield of 1.8 to 2.0 kg of grapes per plant.
HARVEST:
Manual harvest occurs in late October, early November.
VINIFICATION:
After de-stemming, the grapes are not crushed, allowing them to remain intact, reducing damage to the skins and optimizing colour extraction. Fermentation takes place at a controlled temperature of 25°C for 10 days. Both remontage and delestage are carried out in the very early stages of fermentation in order to achieve soft extraction of aromas and gentle tannins. At each delestage a part of the pips is removed so by the 4th day of fermentation no pips remain, thus avoiding the harsh tannins that can be extracted from the pips. After the 6th day of fermentation, when the wine has reached an approximate alcohol level of 10%, the skins are completely removed. This is done to avoid the harsh and bitter tannins usually associated with this grape variety. After racking, malolactic bacteria are added to induce a second fermentation.
AGEING:
30% of the wine is placed in American barriques for 10 months.