Grattamacco - L' Alberello Bolgheri Superiore 2014 Ml. 750

The sister and brother Maria Iris and Claudio Tipa, who have always shared their passion for nature and great wines, fulfilled their dream creating a Domaine in Tuscany.The ColleMassari Domaine comprises today three estates: from 1998 Castello di ColleMassari, Grattamacco since 2002 and the Poggio di Sotto Estate since 2011.
<b>Castello ColleMassari</b>
Was founded in 1998 and is part of the Montecucco DOC area in Upper Maremma, a territory which is ideal for the growing of Sangiovese, and situated between the DOCG areas of Brunello di Montalcino and Morellino di Scansano.The first vintage produced was 2000.
<b>Grattamacco</b>
Was founded at the end of the 70’s in the DOC area of Bolgheri where the growing of Cabernet Sauvignon in this particular region gained great popularity.The first vintage produced was 1982 as a result of blending Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot and Sangiovese.
<b>Poggio di Sotto</b>
Founded at the end of the 80’s and situated in the territory of Montalcino, first DOCG in Italy, and home of the famous Brunello.The first vintage produced was the 1991 harvest and within a short time the winery distinguished itself for its wines of great elegance and complexity.
<b>The Estate</b>
Grattamacco was founded in 1977.
The estate is situated on top of a hill facing the sea between Castagneto Carducci and Bolgheri at 100 m asl.
The area is particularly dedicated to the production of great wines and enjoys a dry climate with consistent thermal excursions at the end of the summer.
The estate extends over an area of about 50 hectares, of which 25 are vineyards and 5 are olive groves.
The remaining area is forest and borders into a vast area of woodlands covering some 1,600 hectares.
In the steep and hilly vineyards, with an average eight percent incline, wines are trained to Cordone speronato, to Guyot and to Alberello with yields of around 6 to 7 tons per hectare.The average age of the vineyards is about 25 years.
The estate follows the criteria of organic farming, guaranteed and certified by ICEA.
<b>The Vineyards</b>
The Grattamacco vineyards are situated in an ecological cradle, protected from the strong sea winds.
They cover 14 hectares, featuring the following three types of soil:
Silt and red sandy soil in the Alberello vineyard
Calcareous flysch in the western side of the vineyards
Sandy calcareous flysch in the eastern side of the vineyards.
Grape varieties for the red wines:
Cabernet Sauvignon 60 %, Sangiovese 15 %, Merlot 10 %, Cabernet Franc 10 %, Petit Verdot 5 %
Grape varieties for the white wine:
Vermentino 100 %
3 hectares of olive groves with the following cultivars:
Frantoio 50 %, Moraiolo 25 %, Leccino 20 %, Pendolino 5 %
<b>The Cellar</b>
During the harvest the grapes are carefully selected manually in the vineyards and posed in truncated cone shaped oak vats holding 700 litres, where the open fermentation is natural with soft manual punching down and a long maceration process takes place.
The malolactic fermentation develops spontaneously in French oak barriques, keeping the different varieties separate.
During the aging process in French oak barriques of 12 to 18 months the blends are created, following a bottle refinement of at least 6 months.