THE PRODUCER: San Biagio Azienda Agricola

Aging: Around 3 months in casks of French oak, completed by 6 months in the bottle.

Growing location: the historic San Biagio and Pria vineyards located in the commune of La Morra. The former has soil composed of calcareous marl, and features great vegetative equilibrium, producing very small bunches of grapes of the highest quality. The latter takes its name from the old word in the local dialect for “stone”, and its soil is clayey and calcareous, with veins of tufa and sand.

Harvest: in October. Given the Barbera variety’s vegetative energy, stripping of the leaves and thinning of the bunches during the summer are all-important. A further selection of the grapes takes place in the vineyard during picking, and then again in the winery prior to crushing. The yield varies between 6 and 7 tons per hectare.

Vinification: maceration on the skins for 15-20 days, in heat-conditioned steel tanks to avoid the risk of overheating the pomace. Frequent, delicate breaking up of the cap helps to extract the anthocyanins, which are responsible for the intense colour of this wine. The mass is stirred slowly, with pumping of the must over the cap to stimulate the fermentative-enzymatic processes and develop the wine’s aromatic framework

Nose: Nice fruit, with hints of plums and blackberries, and spicy notes. The bouquet is rounded off by a floral aroma.
Taste: Full-bodied and mouth-filling, with intense overtones of flowers and red fruit. An appealing tangy streak gives the wine freshness and fragrance, tempered by a hint of sweetness resulting from its softness.