The Winemaker: The Land of Montenidoli
The Nurse: Elisabetta
The Flowering Vines
Our vineyards are on the western,
east-facing slopes the poggio del comune, and receive the first light of
the dawn, awakening with the sun. The vines are laid out in the ritocchino
pattern, perpendicular to the slopes, following the lay of the streambeds that
formed on the hills during the Pliocene. The vines are trained in the Guyot, cordon spur and alberello styles.
Treatments: Montenidoli's vineyards are organically grown. Since we have farmed the land since 1965 we can state that Montenidoli's vineyards have never known a defoliant. We do not use insecticides; the vineyards are aglow with fireflies by night and dancing with ladybugs by day.
The harvest: We check vineyards continuously
from the time the first buds appear in the spring, and make a preliminary
selection of the bunches. Before the invaiatura (when the grapes change
color, what's called the veraison by the French) we again check all the grape
bunches. We harvest when the grapes are fully ripe, between the end of
September and the first week of October. The harvest is by hand, with an
initial selection of the bunches, which are laid flat in small baskets for
their trip to the winery. In the Cellars the bunches destined to go into the various wines are divided up, destemmed, and set to macerate in chilled tanks. We press only the white grapes destined to become Vernaccia Tradizionale and the red grapes, and only after an interval that varies from year to year.
We regulate the temperature and duration of the fermentation,
and keep new wines on their lees as they undergo their secondary fermentations
and reach their natural equilibria. The richest of the white grapes are
fermented and aged in wood, whereas the red wines go into wood after long
macerations in small glass-lined cement tanks. When the wines have reached their natural stability we bottle them. With rare exceptions the bottled wines go into 480-bottle cages; the whites rest for at least two months and the reds for at least a year. We label them just before their release.
The label: Our label bears the inscription, Sono Montenidoli, to indicate that the wines come only from Montenidoli's vineyards, which are planted with the grapes traditionally grown in the region, and that we have made every attempt to transfer the aromas and richness of our lands to our bottles.
Our wines have strong personalities. They are clear and brilliant, with intriguing bouquets whose complexities reveal their significance; a sip unleashes powerful, savory, mineral structures that fill the mouth. Their aftertaste is broad and very long, and the aromas that arise from an empty glass again reveal their great body.