Poggio alle Nane

The grapes, selected with care and picked by hand into small packing cases, were selected a second time on sorting tables in the cellar before being destemmed and lightly pressed. The fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks at a temperature of 82° Fahrenheit (28° centigrade), and the period of skin contact lasted a total of 20 days, during which soft extraction techniques assured both structure and supple tannins. After being run off its skins the wine went into French oak barrels (50% new), where it then went through a complete malolactic fermentation. A 14 month period of oak aging in barrel preceded bottling.

The Le Mortelle estate is located in the heart of the Tuscan Maremma, a mere few miles from the town of Castiglione della Pescaia in an extraordinarily fascinating position both in terms the nature which surrounds it and the history of the site. The Antinori family has always been present in the area - a property act of the year 1863 mentions among their possession Poggio Franco, one of the estate’s finest vineyards, along with other parcels of land. The Antinori, ever since 1999, has worked on the vineyards and the cellar with the firm conviction that the area, an emerging one in the overall panorama of Italian wine, has a major potential for the production of fine wine and that here it would be possible to express the characteristics both of the territory and the varieties to be cultivated. The property extends over a total of some 675 acres, over 425 of which are planted to vines, first Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, then more recent additions of such white grapes as Viognier, Ansonica, and Vermentino together a small amount of Carménère. The soil, of medium texture, is composed principally of clay and silica and is, in certain parts, rather rocky as well. Poggio alle Nane is a blend of the finest Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and a small percentage of Carménère grapes that express the unique terroir of one of the estate’s very best vineyards. Poggio alle Nane is a wine of great aromatic complexity with an elegant tannic structure.

The nose opens with notes of spice and toasted oak fused with aromas of berry fruit, liquorice and violets. The flavors are full and supple with a sweet aftertaste of ripe red berry fruit. This is an elegant blend of Cabernet with a notable persistence and a pleasurable finish characterized by notes of dark chocolate and tobacco.