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Viinin Kuvailu
The Story
The wine Galatrona is a cru of Merlot made from the vineyard Galatrona planted in various phases during the 1990’s with low vigor bordeaux clones in the locality known as Feriale. The vineyard extends for 10 Ha with almost 50.000 plants grown on spurred cordon trellising.
Loam rich in clay, with shale, marl and sandstones.
Altitude 300 m asl. South-eastern exposure. Placed on the south-eastern borders of the Chianti Hills, in the DOC Val d’Arno di Sopra.
Clay helps keeping moisture in the soil, of which merlot has higher needs in the hot, dry, Tuscan summers. The combination of stones, shale and clay is among the elements that allow Galatrona to produce an elegant and full bodied wine even in what are considered minor vintages.
Since 2004 we have been abandoning traditional farming methods practising Natural/Sustainable farming: dry farming, no tillage, total grassing with mulch management, no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. Official Organic Certification was obtained from harvest 2016 (Petrolo olive oil is organic since the 90’s). To achieve natural balance in the vineyard, plant management is made by hand with targeted intervention. Heavier pruning and grape thinning is almost absent in the mature vineyards already balanced. Today extra management is only needed in the more challenging years only.
Vinification: Manual harvest in crates and further grape selection with sorting table. Natural vinification with native yeasts in cement vats. Manual soft and frequent pumping over. Skin maceration over 15 days.
Aging: Spontaneous malolactic fermentation in wood.
Maturation: In Frech oak barrique, a third new, for about 18 months. Constant batonnage of the fine lees for the first 6 months.
Wine Information
IGT Toscana. 100% merlot, Estate produced and bottled.
Production: 15000 bottles
Alcool:14.00%
Acidity:5.60 g/l
pH:3.62
Dry Exctract: 30.5 g
Vintage Report
Started as a cool and wet vintage. Extra management in the field was needed to keep perfect sanitary conditions.
Weather conditions changed the second half of September allowing very good ripening, favoring elegance over structure.
Harvest begun 5th of September, was a nice and long harvest as the good ripening allowed a nice slow pace picking.
Yield was slightly limited. While the older vines kept the deep structure we want for this wine, the younger vines now in early maturity managed to give very elegant results.
Critic Scores (*)
95 James Suckling
93+ AG
93 IA
Vuosikerta 2008
The season was characterized by an autumn and a winter which were not particularly cold and with little rain, conditions which favored a slightly early bud break compared to the preceding vintages. Spring, and the first vegetation, saw the appearance of adverse meteorological conditions, with frequent rainfall until the end of May which caused a slowing of plant growth, a slowing which, nonetheless, did not have harmful effects on vine health. June and July, instead, were warm and dry, while in August there was scattered rainfall which helped the vines to sustain regular growth of both the vegetation and the grapes.
The months of September and October were very favorable for harvest operations, thanks as well to temperature swings from daytime heat to nighttime coolness, optimal conditions for grape quality. Sangiovese was picked during the last ten days of September, while Cabernet continued to be harvested until the middle of October. From the very beginning of the harvest the musts showed very interesting colors and aromas, which indicated that the vintage was of very high level indeed.