Country: | Italy |
Regions: | Tuscany Chianti |
Winery: | Piemaggio |
Grape Type: | Sangiovese |
Organic: | Yes |
Vintage: | 2013 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
Maggiolo Chianti Classico D.O.C.G. is a taste of the joyful sunniness of our area. The name of this tasty, rounded wine is based on that of the iris (“giaggiolo”), a typical flower of the Lamole area that dots our vineyards in the month of May (“Maggio”) when it is at the height of its splendor. We can perceive it in the enchanting sensations and the gentle, soothing textures it offers us with every sip.
The grapes are destalked and the berries are passed through an optical selector. After pressing, the must ferments with the skins in stainless steel tanks, where it remains until late in winter, keeping the Sangiovese separate from the must/wine from the international varieties. Follows a period of maturation of around one-year and a half in oak casks for the Sangiovese and in barriques for the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
This wine goes marvelously with dishes that contain spices or have piquant sensations, or herby recipes. It is also ideal with various types of soups, especially those made from chickpeas, wild peas or lentils and simply seasoned with extra virgin olive oil. Try it too with the meat dishes of Asian or South American cuisines.
Tenuta di Arceno Strada al Sasso Chianti Classico Gran Selezione.
Strada al Sasso is our flagship Sangiovese and is sourced exclusively from the La Porta vineyard block of our Tuscan estate. This is the most intense, brooding, concentrated and complex of our DOCG wines. While this wine drinks well in its youth, it is built to evolve and improve over the next decade or more. This red wine shows aromas of dark-toned fruit, roasted coffee and violets. On the palate are dried red fruits, baking spice and tobacco. The lingering finish shows minerality, and balanced tannins. This Wine has a Cork closure. Alcohol Content: 14.5% Pair with antipasti, margherita or pepperoni pizza, spaghetti bolognese, and eggplant or chicken parmigiana.
The Strada al Sasso is 100% Sangiovese and comes from a single windswept vineyard block within our prized La Porta vineyard. This exceptional micro-cru features high-density spacing, careful matching of rootstocks and clones to the soils, and low yields. The soils are 38% sandstone, 32% limestone, 30% loam, and galestro. La Porta means “the door” or “the opening.”
The vineyard sits directly in the front of the walled town of San Gusmè, offering the most spectacular view as you drive up to town. The vines were replanted at an altitude of 420-450 meters (1400-1450 feet) above sea level between 1998 and 2001 with nine different clones of Sangiovese, including some Sangiovese Grosso (Brunello) on five different rootstocks. The grapes are hand-picked and cold soaked for four days and fermented on skins for 16-20 days, depending on year and fruit ripeness, then drained directly into barrel for malolactic fermentation.
No fining or additives of any kind are used. Pierre Seillan works closely with winemaker Lawrence Cronin and his Italian team, believing his job is to respect tradition, but also enhance the future.
Review:
The sensory quality imposes a deep and rich matrix of identity in the mixed floral and fruity scents of lavender, violet, agapanthus, magnolia, orange blossom, blue plums, pressed blueberries and warm white stone. Full body, silky tannins, enveloping but not ruffling, it relaxes in a very pleasant bite that from the center of the palate onwards creates length and persistence. What a phenomenon. Impossible to resist it but better from
-WinesCritic.com 97 Points
All older vintage wines have been purchased from a single collectors cellar. Pictures can be requested before shipment.
Ricudda Chianti Classico Riserva 100% Sangiovese.
Deep ruby red color.
The wine shows an intense and persistent bouquet, with notes of berries and spices such as licorice and black pepper. Well-harmonized hints of oak.
In the mouth, it is well structured and balanced, complex, persistent with notes of red fruits and spices such as black pepper and licorice.
Pair with grilled red meats, steak, game of hair and feather, stewed and roasted, aged cheeses hard like pecorino.
Review:
"A very fine riserva with black-cherry, walnut with some cedar aromas and flavors. It’s medium-bodied with lovely tension and a fresh finish. Racy and refined. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold."
- James Suckling (June 2022), 93 pts
The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Coeur de Vallee emerges from Andy Beckstoffer's portion of the To Kalon vineyard. Black cherry, blackberry jam, bittersweet chocolate and dark spices are front and center. Young and tannic, the 2013 needs time for the tannins to soften. This is an especially ripe, flamboyant style for...
Review
From the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard, the 2013 Coeur de la Vallée shows creamy tannins, beautiful blackberry and cassis fruit, and hints of blueberries, violets, forest floor and licorice. This is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Cabernet Franc, and the black fruits are triumphant in this gorgeous wine. It should drink nicely for 25-30 years.
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 97 Points
This wine is the authentic expression of a Chianti Classico, with an intense ruby color with burgundy reflections with age. Pleasant notes of violets and dry cherry on the nose. The taste is intense and persistent. Well-balanced, elegant and full-bodied
Production area: (Le Fioraie) Castellina in Chianti (Siena)
Piemaggio Chianti Classico Le Fioraie Sangiovese 90%, Colorino, Canaiolo Ciliegiolo 10%
Altitude: 350-480 meters above sea level.
Soil Composition: middle dough soil rich in mineral with galestro and alberese (Typical of this area).
Plant per hectare: 4,800
Cultivation technique: Guyot
Traditional winemaking with controlled temperature in stainless steal tank, with skin contact maceration for around 25 days, pumping overs and delestages. Aging for about 18 months with passages in concrete vats, in French oak casks of 25 HL and then in tonneaux. 3 months in the bottle.
Serve with pasta dishes, typical Tuscan cold cuts, roasted meat and semi dried cheeses.
The Piemaggio estate is located at Le Fioraie, a hamlet on the north-western side of the Castellina in Chianti territory, along the road to Poggibonsi, in the heart of the historical Chianti Classico. Piemaggio is the name of the farmhouse in the centre of the estate. The most ancient part of the farmhouse dates back to the XI-XII century AD. The remains of an age-old 'Pieve' (church) in the heart of the property, bear witness to the agricultural vocation of the site. Religious orders in the middle ages acted as the custodians of agricultural knowledge, handing it down throughout the centuries.
The name of the estate, Piemaggio, probably originates from the presence of the Pieve ('Pie') located on the highest hillside ('maggiore') in the estate.
The drawing with the three flower sellers, repeated on the wine labels, has represented the identity of the wines since 1954. Le Fioraie, in Italian 'the flower sellers', is the name of the place where the estate is located.
“Legend has it that the name of Le Fioraie is linked to the pilgrim friar who passed by the estate, many centuries ago, one day in a very hot summer. The pilgrim, exhausted after so much walking in the excessive heat, fainted. Three sisters, local flower sellers, saw the friar crumple on the ground and offered him a glass of wine to revive him. The friar thanked the flower sellers and resumed his pilgrimage, but he never forgot the place. After a few months he returned, started building a small church and planted a few vines."
We'll never know whether this tale is history or legend: however, the three flower sellers are the symbol linking the wine to its place of production, A direct homage to this magical corner of the Chianti Classico area.
The vineyards at Piemaggio cover over 12 hectares. The vines, all trained with the Guyot system, grow on a number of separate hillsides with south and south-westerly aspect. The altitude sits between 380 and 480 metres above sea level, with slopes of variable steepness.
Thick woods surround the vineyards on all sides. Together with the altitude and the constant breeze, the presence of the forest helps protect both vines and grapes from damaging summer droughts.
The galestro and alberese soils, part of the geological heritage of Chianti Classico sites, guarantee perfect drainage of the vineyards: an essential feature for the healthy development of the vines.
At Piemaggio, the Sangiovese grape variety reigns supreme, covering about 10 hectares in total. The clones used in the vines have been carefully selected: at the moment, six have been identified.
Colorino, Canaiolo and Ciliegiolo are the other vine varieties typical of the Chianti Classico territory that grow on the estate besides Sangiovese. Lastly, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes grow towards the production of an IGT wine.
600 olive trees grow on the estate's grounds, producing an extra-virgin olive oil with all the typical features of a Tuscan oil from the Chianti hills.
The cellar
The cellar at Piemaggio is situated roughly one kilometre from the farmhouse and the vineyards, as the crow flies. It was modernised in 2014, with the purchase of new 100HL steel vats for controlled temperature fermentation.
The ageing phase takes place within 110HL vats in fiberglass concrete. During this important part of the process, the vats help preserve the integrity and freshness of the Sangiovese grown at Piemaggio.
The cellar also hosts 25HL French oak barrels as well as 5HL tonneaux, also made of French wood, used for the Chianti Classico Le Fioraie, Chianti Classico Riserva Le Fioraie and Piemaggio, an IGT wine.
It is hard to imagine with the Lithology range receiving 298 points out of 300 for the three single-vineyard wines, that there could possibly be a wine above them. But there is, and it is our Estate wine. Blended several times very intently by masters of their craft Philippe Melka and Michel Rolland, this is the ultimate expression of our house’s work. Positive, full-bodied, and quite powerful, there’s the expected crème de cassis and blackberry from St. Helena Cabernets, with mineral, herb, subtle tobacco and vanilla, plum skins, and pie crust, purple flowers, forest-conifer notes, and very fine tannic structure. It is a magnificent, and magnificently elegant expression of this house, and when asked recently, Monsieur Rolland stated plainly to me, “oh yes indeed – this is the best one, the best yet…”
Review:
Pure perfection in Cabernet, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Alejandro Bulgheroni is all varietal and comes two-thirds from Oakville with the balance from sites in St. Helena and Rutherford. Aged 20 months in 70% new French oak and put together by Philippe Melka and Michel Rolland, it has an incredibly pure, full-bodied, massive yet weightless style that I suspect couldn’t be achieved anywhere outside of Napa Valley. Cassis, blackberries, leafy herbs, lead pencil shavings, and tobacco leaf are just some of the nuances here, and it’s full-bodied, deep, and concentrated on the palate while maintaining an ethereal, seamless, utterly perfect balance between its fruit, alcohol, tannins, and acidity. As good as it gets, it needs just 2-4 years in the cellar and will evolve gracefully for at least 20-25 years.
-Jeb Dunnuck 100 Points
Fullerton Three Otters Pinot Noir is made from 100% Pinot Noir - 7-40 years old
This Willamette Valley blend hails mainly from three different vineyards in the north, east, and south of the Willamette Valley, with a smaering from five of Fullerton's other sites. The soils of the vineyards represent the breadth and diversity of the Willamee Valley with both sedimentary- and volcanic-based soils.
Blueberry and ripe strawberry with a dash of baker’s spice, bramble, and herbs. The palate carries the fruit forward elegantly with balanced tannins following. Intriguing complexity and depth—an impressive wine for all.
This wine comes from 100% destemmed rotator barrels fermented at ambient temperature reaching a peak temperature of 73° F. The rotator barrel spun twice daily during fermentation yielding a gentle extraction. After fermentation, the wine went through a three-week extended maceration, allowing the tannins to polymerize, soffening the wine. Aged for 12 months in French oak barrels and three months in tank, the wine was then bottled after filtration.
This wine is handled very gently in the cellar allowing the nuances of the delicate fruit to be preserved and the wine to be very approachable in its youth. We have a preference for pump-overs versus punch-downs for its smoother extraction and softening effect on the tannin. To retain freshness and verve we age most of the wine in tank. However, we softened up and rounded out about 25% of the blend in barrel. The result is a fresh, fruit forward, yet earthy and intriguing, Pinot Noir.