The Story
The first vintage of the Guado al Tasso Vermentino was the 1996. This estate is located approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Florence in the Tuscan Maremma, just outside the medieval village of Bolgheri, and the 1000 hectares (2471 acres) of the property extend from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the hills in the interior. In addition to the major crop to be cultivated, wine grapes, there are also olive groves and field of wheat, corn, and sunflowers.
Wine Information
A winter with normal temperatures was followed by a spring initially marked by above average temperatures which led to an early bud break. A regular spring and early summer - the latter characterized, up until the beginning of August, by somewhat cool temperatures and occasional rainfall - favored an extended ripening cycle free of any vine stress. The high temperatures of the month of August, though slightly mitigated by the influence of the nearby sea, led to some anomalies in the ripening and a drop in the production per hectare. Ideal weather followed, however, in September with excellent temperature swings from daytime warmth to evening and nighttime coolness along with low humidity.
In short: the 2011 vintage could be described as difficult in terms of the commitment which was required during the harvest and during the selection of the bunches on the sorting tables, but very satisfying as far as the quality level attained is concerned.
Each single vineyard plot was picked separately and in successive passages through the vineyard, and the grapes were then fermented separately as well. This procedure was adopted in order to create in the cellars a vast selection of Vermentino lots with different characteristics due to the differences in the vineyard plots and in the level of ripeness of the grapes when picked. The harvested grapes were immediately destemmed, a part lightly crushed, and all the grapes then pressed. Different fractions of juice were obtained from the pressing and were chilled for 24 hours in order to favor a natural settling of the must’s impurities. The clean must was then fermented in stainless steel tanks and at temperatures which were never allowed to exceed 16° centigrade (61° Fahrenheit). The various lots of wine, at a month’s distance from the fermentation, were evaluated and the selected lots then assembled for the final blend, a wine at 12.5° alcohol.
100% Vermentino