GRAPES:
93% Syrah, 7% Viognier
VINEYARD AREA:
The Syrah and Viognier grapes are carefully selected form low-yielding vineyards in the Southern Italian region of Puglia.
TRAINING:
Both grape varieties are trained using the Guyot method.
The plants are an average of 30 years old, with a plant density of 5000 plants per hectare.
HARVEST:
Manual picking in early September.
VINIFICATION:
After de-stemming, the grapes are not crushed, allowing them to remain intact, reducing damage to the skins and optimizing colour extraction. The Viognier grapes are the first ones placed in the fermentation tanks, followed by the Syrah. This enables the creation of the “cap” which includes a first layer of Viognier grapes, thus maximizing the extraction of the delicate aromas of this elegant white varietal. The polyphenols of the Viognier are also very useful in stabilizing the color of the Syrah juice. Fermentation takes place at a controlled temperature of 23-24°C for 10 days.
Frequent remontage and delestage are carried out in the early stages of fermentation in order to achieve soft extraction of aromas and gentle tannins. Following fermentation the wine is kept in contact with the skins for an extra 7-8 days to maximize extraction of colors and tannins. After racking, malolactic bacteria are added to induce the secondary fermentation, which will last approximately 3 weeks.
AGEING:
50% of the wine for 12 months in primarily new French and American oak barriques.
ALCOHOL:
13.5%