The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.
Wine Description
The Story
The Le Mortelle estate was once part of a larger complex, one which was already present, and therefore of a certain significance, on the mid-19th century maps of Tuscan Gran Duke Leopold II. The property is located in the heart of the lower Tuscan Maremma, in the province of Grosseto, at approximately five miles from the town of Castiglione della Pescaia. It extends over a total of 675 acres (270 hectares), 400 of which are planted to vines, prevalently Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese along with - more recently - such white grape varieties as Vermentino, Ansonica, and Viognier. The estate was purchased in 1999 by the Antinori family, convinced as it was that the area had an important potential for high quality wine production. The new Le Mortelle cellars are largely underground in order to minimize to the maximum possible extent the visual impact on the environment. It was constructed in order to best exploit the natural thermal regulation offered by the rocks in the sub-soil and with a maximum respect for preserving and maintaining natural balances: energy savings due to gravity-flow winemaking procedures, plant-purification (phyto-purification) of the cellar water which is then returned to the environment, and the use solely of energy provided by renewable sources. The estate is open – with advance notice and reservations - to the public for guided tours with tastings, and visitors can acquire both the estate’s wines and the fruit grown on the property.
Wine Information
Blend
60% Cabernet Franc, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon
Climate
The winter months and part of the spring of 2009 were characterized by abundant rainfall which created excellent reserves of groundwater in the soil. Fine spring weather then followed and led to sustained growth of the vines and their vegetation and fine ripening of the grapes. These climatic conditions and the strong solar radiation which marked the second half of August, which arrived when the plants were already in excellent condition, favored an high level expression of varietal personality and aromatic character in the grapes.
Vinification
The grapes were first manually selected in the vineyard and then picked and brought to the cellars where they were destemmed and then pressed. The must went into stainless steel tanks and chilled to 8°-10° centigrade (46-50° Fahrenheit) and macerated on their skins for four to five days in order to bring out all their varietal aroma and preserve the integrity of their fruit. The temperatures then rose to a peak of 28° centigrade (82° Fahrenheit) during the subsequent fermentation. During the period of skin contact in the fermentation, the cap of skins in the tanks was carefully punched down and pumped over in order to extract only the finest and most noble tannins. The wine was run off its skins into new oak barrels where, by the end of the year, it had completed its malolactic fermentation. After a fourteen month period of barrel aging, the wine was bottled and then given an additional ten months before commercial release.
Alcohol : 14% Vol.
