Tasting Notes
Santa Pia 2017 is an intense ruby red color. Its nose immediately reveals its vintage: pleasant sensations of ripe red fruit and plum jam merge with aromas of tobacco and cloves. On the palate it’s elegant, refined and characterised by excellent freshness and mouth-filling tannins, soft and silky.
Fermented in stainless steel, macerated for around 20 days and then aged for approximately 12 months in 500-litre tonneaux, followed by 20 months in bottle.
Vintage
The 2017 vintage delivered lower yields, yet grapes achieved optimal ripeness, giving the wine excellent potential and intensifying varietal aromas. Winter brought below-average temperatures and limited precipitation. In April, frost struck after bud break, reducing overall yields without compromising quality. Light rainfall in May preceded a relatively hot, dry summer, with hot winds persisting throughout the season. The team harvested Sangiovese for Santa Pia during the first week of October.
Vinification
The team brought harvested grapes to the cellar, destemmed them and gently crushed them. They transferred the must into stainless steel vats for alcoholic fermentation. They maintained temperatures of 26–28 °C (79–82 °F) to preserve Sangiovese’s typical aromas. The must macerated on the skins for 20 days. The team then transferred the wine into 500-litre tonneau barrels for malolactic fermentation and approximately 12 months of ageing. The wine aged in bottles for another 20 months before release.
History
The Antinori family crafts Vigneto Santa Pia from a small, four-hectare vineyard in Santa Pia. The vineyard occupies ridges just below the town of Montepulciano. Sandy loam soils contain abundant rocky deposits, known as “skeleton”. These soils help the Antinori family create an elegant yet traditional expression of Sangiovese. The wine reflects the characteristics of this historic winemaking area. The family produced the first vintage in 2001.
La Braccesca Estate
La Braccesca spans 508 hectares on the site of the Bracci counts’ ancient farm. The estate takes its name and coat of arms from the counts. Its coat of arms depicts an arm in armour holding a sword. The Marchesi Antinori family has owned the estate since 1990.
The vineyards cover 334 hectares across two areas. The first covers 232 hectares along the border between the municipalities of Montepulciano and Cortona. The second includes 102 hectares of vines and extends towards Montepulciano, across Cervognano, Santa Pia and Gracciano. These three renowned sub-zones produce great red wines.
Drinking window 2022 – 2027
To learn more visit Marchesi Antinori or the website here.
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