Nose
Color: sparkling straw yellow
Smell: The multifaceted aroma of this wine derives from a combination of ripe fruit, including honeydew melon, white peach, pear and Golden Delicious apple, together with the aromas of quince jelly, camomile and pineapple, on the one hand, and mineral notes of flint on the other.
Taste: The interplay of fruity aromatic and salty components is repeated on the palate. The compact structure and elegant creamy elements create a lingering, firmly minerally and spicy character on the aftertaste.
Growing Conditions
The year began with a very dry and mild winter. A cool spring slightly delayed vine budding, but the normal growth cycle was restored by a very warm and sunny May. The first vines flowered on the earliest sites in the middle of the month, and the fine weather then led to a rapid flowering process. On the higher sites, flowering was finished by the beginning of June.
Due to an exceptionally hot and dry summer, there were few problems with fungal attack, but the lack of rainfall pushed the vines to their limits in some cases. Rainfall and thunderstorms at the end of July and beginning of August put an end to the lack of water, thus averting drought stress and related quality problems and generating the comforting prospect of an early harvest.
Harvest
Harvesting began on August 24 on the earliest sites. The result was fully ripe and extremely healthy grapes with slightly reduced levels of acidity.
Winemaking
Manual harvest and selection of the grapes; gentle whole cluster pressing and clarification of the must by natural sedimentation; slow fermentation at a controlled temperature in big oak barrels (70 + 30 hl); malolactic fermentation and aging on the lees in traditional wooden barrels for 12 months.
Aging
Cool storage at constant temperatures, high level of humidity and as little light as possible
Cellar temperature: 10 - 15 °C
Excellent ageing potential > 10 years
Food Pairing
Ideal in combination with a spicy fish soup, mussels in a pepper sauce and spaghetti allo scoglio as well as mussels au gratin, grilled ink fish and poached char; also one of the few good combinations with artichokes alla romana; excellent with mature Pecorino, a mature Parmesan and mostarda, and Tête de Moine.
