Wines of the Moment
White: Montagny 1er Cru Château de la Saule 2005
Price: £13.92
HISTORY OF DOMAINE: The Chateau de la Saule, the largest and most prestigious domaine in the appellation of Montagny, has been in the Roy family since 1805. Alain Roy, the current proprietor, has been responsible for the entire domaine since 1972.
COMPOSITION OF DOMAINE: The Chateau de la Saule has 15 hectares of vineyards, 13 of which are planted to Chardonnay. The vineyards face full south and the majority are located within the premier cru sites of "Burnins", "Les Vignes Sur Le Clou", and "Les Monts Cuchots". The soil composition is "argilo-calcaire" and each of the above sites is situated on prime hillside slopes.
METHOD OF VINIFICATION: Harvest is done manually. The grapes are crushed in a pneumatic press; the juice is chilled and then racked off the heavy lees shortly after crushing; fermentation of most of the Chardonnay proceeds in stainless steel cuves under controlled conditions at low temperatures. These wines remain on the lees in stainless steel with a portion being racked into barrel to complete malolactic fermentation. The classic cuvee of Chateau de la Saule, always derived exclusively from 1er Cru vineyards, is normally bottled in May or June following the harvest. A special cuvee of Montagny 1er Cru "Les Burnins" is entirely fermented and aged in barrel. This limited production wine is selected from a low-yielding parcel of vines of approximately 50 years of age and is bottled prior to the next year's harvest.
Red: Villa Cafaggio Chianti Classico Riserva 2001
Price: £16.57
Chianti is produced in the heart of Tuscany.
Villa Cafaggio dates back to hundreds of years ago, when the property was named "Cahago", which means "enclosed, cultivated field".
According to historical documents, hundreds of years later, in the 15th century, vines still flourished on the estate under the ownership of Benedictine monks from Siena. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Cafaggio passed to the Boddi family and in the late 1960s, the Farkas family bought it as a country house and set about restoring the wine cellars and replanting the vineyards and olive groves.
Only one vineyard remained intact at that time: Solatio Basilica. This vineyard has been replanted with new, accurately selected vines that now produce a very special Chianti Classico Riserva.
Stefano Farkas, a passionate and hard-working researcher, in 1991 also replanted 5 hectares of new vines with special Sangiovese clones on American rootstock. Then he replanted 15 hectares in 1998 and 2 hectares in 1999. Following the "Chianti Classico 2000" programme, Stefano identified and extensively planted the optimum Sangiovese clones for this particular region.
Grapes: 100% Sangiovese Toscano
Vineyard area: The grapes for the Riserva are grown exclusively on the south facing slopes of the ancient Villa Cafaggio estate in Panzano at the heart of Chianti Classico. The vineyards have a density of 5.000 vines per hectare, with a maximum of 1,2 kilos of grapes per vine. Production is strictly controlled by crop thinning.
Harvest: All grapes are hand picked and carefully selected in early to mid October.
Vinification: The grapes are de-stemmed and soft crushed in order to cause the least possible damage to the skins, resulting in for optimum colour extraction and soft tannins. Delestage is carried out at the start of fermentation and frequent remontage takes place in the later stages of fermentation as well as after fermentation is complete, in order to achieve maximum colour extraction and soft tannins. Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled conditions in stainless steel for 8-10 days at 30°C for 24 to 36 hours, then lowered to 25-27°C. Micro-oxygenation is used at several different stages throughout vinification. The juice remains on the skins for 2-3 weeks. Malolactic fermentation takes place in French oak barriques, immediately after the alcoholic fermermentation.
Ageing: The wine is aged for 18 months in French oak barriques. The wine is aged for 5-6 months in bottle before release.
Winemakers notes: Intense dark red. On the nose there are firm ripe fruit aromas with blackcurrant undertones. Deeply concentrated morello cherry flavours on the palate, rich and strong flavours which go on and on.
