Chianti DOCG 2023 San Michele Organic Wine

Nutritional information per 100 ml

Contains negligible amounts of fat, saturates, protein and salt.

Sangiovese

Chance is said to have played a part when one of Italy's most important grape varieties developed from the two red varieties Ciliegiolo and Calabrese di Montenuovo. It did a good job: around 100,000 hectares in Italy are now planted with it. Or was it divine providence after all? The name could certainly suggest so, as Sangiovese literally means Jupiter's blood. The demands this grape makes on its surroundings would be worthy of the name. It ripens late, remains on the vine for a long time and has thin skins, making it very susceptible to rot, which can be a problem particularly in cool, wet years. If the grapes ripen fully, however, they produce tannin-rich, fruity and elegant wines with aromas of sour cherries, violets, chocolate, liquorice and juniper berries. When drunk young, the wines are often marked by pronounced acidity, but over time the flavour profile rounds out, reaching its full expression in barrique. The best growing conditions are found in Tuscany, where it is therefore one of the most important grape varieties and a compulsory component of Chianti Classico, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Brunello di Montalcino. Sangiovese is also grown in Emilia-Romagna, Umbria and the Marche. Italian emigrants took the vine with them to Australia, California and Argentina.

Aromas reminiscent of dark ripe fruit such as blackberries and blueberries on the nose. Fruity on the palate, with typical Sangiovese aromatics, few tannins and pleasant softness.

Fattoria San Michele a Torri

San Michele: tradition at its best. Paolo Nocentinis spent a small fortune on his love for his homeland. A successful Florentine haulage entrepreneur, he looked out from an elegant villa over the beautiful Arno valley west of Florence. Speculators with plenty of money from southern Italy’s inexhaustible but rather murky sources had bought up land on a large scale and begun developing it, dividing it into plots and selling it on at a profit.

Eventually, Paolo could no longer bear to watch this sell-off. He made a good offer and bought the old Fattoria San Michele with its remaining land. Within a few years, a model Tuscan farm emerged: the old villa was renovated in keeping with its style, and traditional crops returned to the fields. A small bakery makes traditional durum-wheat bread. In the attic, grapes for VinSanto are once again dried on wooden racks, with the wine then maturing in old-fashioned-looking caratelli. Grape reception and fermentation tanks use the latest oenological technology, while in the ageing cellar the old tiled concrete tanks were restored at enormous expense and brought up to modern hygiene standards.

New vineyards are planted with material propagated from old vines specifically for San Michele. Sensitive estate manager and oenologist Leonardo Francalanci negotiates the fine line between welcome modernity and tradition worth preserving with almost instinctive assurance. Wines like these certainly need not fear competition from overseas. They can only come from this magnificent wine landscape and can never be imitated!