Poggiotondo Chianti Superiore 2007

Notes of iris and red and black cherries. Supple tannins are supported by ripe black fruit, with underlying acidity. Long and structured finish. The fundamental difference between 2006 and 2007 Superiore is the shift to a lower production of Chianti Superiore in order to improve and refine the quality of the wine. The 2007 is more complex and elegant than previous vintages.

PRODUCER

Alberto Antonini bought this estate, a neighbour of Cerro del Masso, in 2001, and planted about 50 hectares of vineyard. He set about ensuring that they were state of the art. The newest and best quality clones were used, and the vineyards were planted with a high density of 6,250 vines per hectare, to give a low yield per vine.

VINEYARDS

The wine is made from a selection of fruit from the low yielding Poggiotondo estate vineyards which are situated on beautiful hills, some of them “conche”, or shell-shaped, which are south and southwest facing. They are planted predominantly with Sangiovese, though Alberto is increasing the amount of Merlot in his vineyards as some of the sites have a particularly high percentage of clay in the soil. The grapes are carefully selected and hand picked in order to produce a top quality wine. Yield is approximately 7.5 tonnes/ha.

VINTAGE

A warm winter, followed by favourable spring conditions and a cool summer, led to an even but early ripening of the grapes. Harvest conditions were good and dry. A more rigid selection of grapes in the vineyards was made during harvest, which resulted in greater concentration and intensity in the structure of the wine.

VINIFICATION

The fruit was fermented in stainless steel tanks for a week and then underwent a 10 day extended maceration to give the wine more fullness and structure. Post fermentation, the wine was aged in French oak barriques, 50% of which were new, for 12 months. The wine was bottled in the summer following harvest.