Tenuta di Monte-Ficali, Chianti Classico, Greve, Tuscany 2019

About the Wine:

Smells of freshly cut flowers, sweet red berry fruit, tobacco, orange peel and spicy. This dry, fruity wine has medium body and is a great food wine. It pairs well with Tuscan classics such as salumi toscani, pasta al pomodoro, hearty vegetable soups, grilled meats and semi aged cheeses.

About the Produer:

The Tenuta di Monte-Ficali wine estate is situated in the ‘Alta valle della Greve’ (high valley of the river Greve), in the heart of the Florentine Chianti Classico, 30 kilometres to the south of Florence. The name of our farm comes from the nearby, hilltop, castle-village of Montefioralle, known in the 10th century as ‘Castrum Monte-Ficali’. The origins of the town were as a fortified monastery and garrison town from 931 AD and it is probably one of the most ancient and best preserved in Chianti. Still to this day it is enclosed within its original walls and is in the register of the “most beautiful medieval villages in Italy”

During the early middle ages it was one of the largest military and administrative centers of the area, and it is first mentioned in a document from 1085 where it was shown to be owned by Florentine noble families of considerable importance, the Ricasoli, Benci, Gheradini and Vespucci families. Despite being such a small village (nowadays numbering only 100 inhabitants), the history of Montefioralle and the immediate area reverberates through many centuries and internationally. A member of the Ricasoli familiy, Baron Bettino Ricasoli, originated the official formula for Chianti wine in 1872, which remained in place for over a century. Lisa Gherardini, is none other than the Mona Lisa herself (painted by Leonardo Da Vinci only a few kilometers away from Montefioralle), Amerigo Vespucci was the cartographer who accompanied Columbus on his voyages of discovery, and after whom the continent of the Americas is possibly named. Nearby is the Castle of Giovanni Da Verrazzano: great XVIth century explorer (after whom the Verrazzano bridge of New York is named) who ended his days eaten by cannibals on the island of Guadaloupe! The castle village of Montefioralle is very much worth a visit and has remained entirely unspoiled throughout the centuries.

Classification: DOCG-Denominazione di origine controllata e garantita

Grape variety: 85% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot, 5% Cabernet sauvignon 

Position: Steep hillside 500 m above sea level in the Greve valley

 Training system: Counter-espalier and guyot 

Soil typology: Argillaceaous limestone

Plant density: 3000 plants per hectare

Production: 50hl per hectare

Harvest: Early October exclusively by hand

Vinification process: The grapes are crushed and macerate on the skins for 6 hours at 8° C. The temperature is then brought up to a controlled 28° C for fermentation for about 8 days and then a further period of maceration for 10 days.

Aged: The wine is aged on the lees for 2 weeks and then matured for 2 months in steel followed by 6 months in 2nd and 3rd passage tonneaux.

Alcohol percentage: 13.5% 

Total acidity: 5,5g/L