Podere Poggio Scalette - Capogatto 2013 Ml. 750

Podere Poggio Scalette became an autonomous wine-producing estate in 1991 when Vittorio Fiore and his wife Adriana Assjè di Marcorà acquired several plots of land and a rural building on the hill of Ruffoli, in the township of Greve in Chianti, in the very heart of the Chianti Classico appellation. The property came from the division of an heritage and the sale of proprety consisting of old stone farmhouses, vineyard land, olive groves, pasture land, and woods which had been abandoned years previously after the death of the former owner.
The Territory
The town of Greve in Chianti takes its name from the stream (the Greve, as it is called by local residents) which runs through and whose tributaries are to be found in the hills which encircle this medieval hamlet, historically one of the major centers of production of Chianti Classico wine.
The slopes of the Greve river valley between the town and the neighboring hamlet of Panzano, the west-facing hill of Ruffoli, is unanimously considered one of the finest of all sites for cultivating the vine and the olive, for obtaining maximum qualitative expression, and for producing the great wines of Chianti Classico and the splendid extra-virgin olive oil of the zone.
"Alta Valle della Greve" (Upper Valley of the Greve) is the IGT (Typical Geographical Indication) utilized for the first wines produced by Podere Poggio Scalette, an estate situated in this small area between Greve and Panzano in Chianti, in the center of an ample area for the production of Chianti Classico wine.
The vineyards and olive groves of Podere Poggio Scalette are located in a strip of land between 350 and 550 meters (1150-1800 feet) above sea level, a property which takes its name from the configuration of the hillside slopes, characterized as they are by lovely dry stone walls which sustain terraces of varying sizes. On these terraces vines or olive trees are planted according to the characteristics of the soil; seen from afar they give the impression of a series of staircase steps which climb the slopes of the hill of Ruffoli.
The Vineyards
On these terraces and on an ample plot of vineyards, called by the local peasantry il Carbonaione, are planted the Sangiovese vines which as has been discovered - were the first to be planted in the decade following First World War (1914-1918), after the destruction of the largest part of Europe's vineyards by the phylloxera plague which struck in the late 19th century.
We are dealing, therefore, with vines that have reached the venerable age of more than 80 years and which constitute, without the slightest doubt, one of the rarest (if not the sole) example of a Tuscan vineyard with this age, prevalently composed of an important member of the large Sangiovese family known by the name of Sangiovese di Lamole and born in the territory of the Chianti Classico appellation.
This first nucleus, five hectares (12.5 acres) in size, was joined by a second one in 1996, other Sangiovese vineyards planted during the 1960's and 1970's and, again, five hectares in size.
New vineyards began to be planted in the new millennium to bring the overall surface under vine in 2007 to an area of approximately 15 hectares (37 acres). Of this vineyard surface a bit more than a hectare is registered as Alta Valle della Greve IGT, with a small portion of white Chardonnay grapes, while the rest is carried on the official Chianti Classico appellation (DOCG) rolls.
In this context, during the course of the planting operations for the latest vineyards, principally Sangiovese, a small parcel of Merlot (5,000 square meters - or a bit less than two acres, planted in 1996) to be used for the Piantona wine was planted along with four rows, respectively, of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Merlot (1000 vines each, planted in 2004) and utilized for Capogatto. In another micro-area, approximately 1500 vines of Chardonnay were planted, to be used for Richiari.
Capogatto
It is both a wine and a challenge which Jurij Fiore, a professional winemaker trained in Burgundy, posed to himself, in this case measuring himself against grapes entirely of Bordeaux origin. The results are simply excellent, i.e. a wine which is refined and complex in aroma, suave, velvety, and austere on the palate.