POGGIOTONDO Chianti Superiore 2007 Alberto Antonini bought this estate, next door to his Cerro del Masso vineyard, in 2001 and planted about 50 hectares of vineyard. He set about ensuring they were state-of-the-art, planted with a high density of 6,250 vines per hectare, which gives a low yield per vine, and all the newest and best quality clones. The vineyards are situated on beautiful hills, some of them .conche. or shell-shaped, which are south and southwest facing. They are planted primarily with Sangiovese, though Alberto is increasing the amount of Merlot in his vineyards as some of the soils have a high percentage of clay. The wine is made from a selection of fruit from the low yielding Poggiotondo estate vineyards. Although planted primarily with Sangiovese, Alberto is increasing the Merlot grown in his vineyards which thrives on the clay soils here. 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. Grape selection criteria was even stricter than usual in the vineyards during harvest, which resulted in greater concentration and intensity in the structure of the wine. 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. Good depth of colour and lovely aromatic nose with notes of iris and red and black cherries. On the palate, supple tannins are supported by ripe black fruit, with good underlying structure and plenty of fruit on the finish. Production in 2007 was lower than the previous vintage, resulting in a more complex and elegant wine. SILVER - International Wine Challenge 2010 Vintage 2007 Grape varieties 90% Sangiovese 10% Merlot Region Toscana Winemaker Alberto Antonini Closure Cork Alcohol (ABV) 13% Acidity 5.37g/l Residual Sugar 2.47g/l Wine pH 3.38 Find this wine at www.winestore.co.uk Price: £76.81 (Including VAT at 20%)