Producer
The Capezzana estate, 24 kilometres north west of Florence, is owned by the Contini Bonacossi family. The younger generation is now firmly in charge of the estate’s 80 hectares of vineyard, with daughter Benedetta Contini Bonacossi as winemaker and Francesco Bernabei as consultant winemaker. The wines and the olive oil have an elegance which marks this estate out from the crowd.
Vineyards
Grapes for this wine are grown on the alluvial valley of the Furba River. The south/south-west facing vineyards are situated at approximately 150-200 metres above sea level. The ideal climatic conditions allow Capezzana to practise an eco-friendly form of farming, without using pesticides. Other sustainable farming practices at Capezzana include the use exclusively of organic fertilisers, a techinque known as “sovescio” (ploughing under legume and cereal crops grown between the vines’ rows), and no use whatsoever of herbicides.
Vinification
Fermentation lasted seven days and took place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. Temperatures did not exceed 28ºC during fermentation. After 13 days of maceration, the wine was transferred into barriques, where malolactic fermentation was completed within one month. The wine was aged for 24 months in French oak barriques of which 50% were new. It remained in bottle for at least a year before release.