2020 "Chiesamonti' Toscana Rosso IGT
Podere Le Boncie
“Chiesamonti” is a 1.3-hectare parcel adjacent to the town of San Felice in Castelnuovo Berardenga, with a stonier soil profile and a lower clay content than Giovanna’s home turf. The vines, now over a decade old, used to be blended into “Cinque” in their younger years, but she now feels they are ready for prime time, and this wine—bottled on its own for the first time in 2018—provides a fascinating counterpoint to “Le Trame”: silkier, higher-toned, and overall prettier, with a more blatant mineral underpinning and less sumptuously fleshy fruit. It spends two years in Stockinger barrels, just like its sister wine, and it comprises nearly entirely Sangiovese, with just a touch of Canaiolo.
Grapes: Moslty Sangiovese (95%) or so, the rest Canaiolo
Farming: Practicing organic, with some biodynamic practices
Abv: 13%
Vineyard: From a .3 ha parcel on a gentle slope near Castelnuovo Baradenga of Alberese (Limestone-clay) soil. High-density Albarello training planted at 7,000 vines/ha in the late 1980’s
Fermentation: Destemmed, the wine ferments spontaneously in open-top, neutral Slavonian and Austrian oak vats with only punch-downs during fermentation (no pumps)
Élevage: 24 months in neutral, 500-l barrels and Slavonian and Austrian oak tini. Unfined and unfiltered
Sulfur: Minimal, but plenty to keep things stable 40 mg/l total sulfur
