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Perricone buds in Tenuta Belicello

Spring, finally

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Thanks to the beautiful weather of the past week, the vineyards are now covered with herbs and wild flowers and it’s finally time for bud break

It has been a very long and rainy winter for three months straight: at some point, fields and vineyards were not able to retain the rain anymore, and it became almost impossible even to walk or drive, as roads and trails were washed out in many places around Menfi.

As you see from this infographic, we received more than 20 inches of rain since the beginning of 2015, almost double the average for the same trimester last year, and we are running terribly late with all vineyard works.

Then, without notice, a sunny day bursts out, and all greens and herbs and flowers start to twinkle under the bright light, and suddenly it’s time for bud break. Now we need to speed up: mow the grass, till the soil, tie the youngest vines to the wires before their new shoots start to grow.

You won’t believe it, but it’s already the beginning of a new harvest.

 

Tags: Tenuta Belicello, viticulture

THE SHORT STORY

THE SHORT STORY

Grape variety: Inzolia grown in Dietro le Case vineyard
Soil: clay soil with calcareous components, very rich in limestones and sea minerals
Vineyard: planted in 1960s, head-trained bush vines
Winemaking: skin contact for 48 hours in steel tanks
Alcoholic fermentation: spontaneous, with wild yeast
Malolactic fermentation: spontaneous
Refining: 4 months on fine lees, in steel tanks
Aging: one oak barrel, where it ages in perpetuum with its sediment
Average production: a few dozen bottles every some years

Download wine sheet

WINEMAKING

The grapes are handpicked the first half of September, when they are fully ripe. The traditional pruning system - called "a pezzo e spalla" - and the age of the vines, allow slow constant ripening cycles and a great aromatic concentration.

The fermentation is spontaneous, with 2 days skin contact. After soft pressing, the fermentation continues for 8 days in steel tanks. After malolactic is completed, the wine refines on fine lees for about 4 months and is then racked into one single oak barrel, where it ages in perpetuum with its sediment.

The wine is bottled directly from the barrel no more than 2-3 times every decade.

TASTING NOTES

Altrimenti has a bright amber color, enlivened by golden hues. Its nose is predominantly tertiary, where fruity notes of apricot and ripe figs blend onto an intense and aromatic herbal background, enriched by roasted and dried nuts.

It is dry and full bodied to the palate, with a distinct savory personality that harmoniously meets a tannic finish.

SERVING TEMPERATURE: 54 - 58 °F
Pour Altrimenti in wide glasses, at a fresh but not chilled temperature.
Please avoid freezers and blast chillers, as well as a prolonged time in your home refrigerator: this wine is not filtered nor fined, and any temperature below 40 °F will mortify its complex aromas.

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