Carnasciale Il Caberlot 2020 (1.5L)

Producer's Notes

WINERY Podere Il Carnasciale is situated in the southern Chianti mountains in the Valdarno di Sopra region of Tuscany, thirty kilometers north of Siena and Arezzo and 60 kilometers south of Florence. True to original owner’s (Wolf Rogosky) vision, the secluded hilltop estate is run today by Bettina and her son Moritz Rogosky, in collaboration with the enologists and winemakers Peter Schilling and Marco Maffei. The Caberlot variety—a naturally occurring crossing of Merlot and Cabernet France—is cultivated exclusively at Podere Il Carnasciale, making them a self-proclaimed 'haute couture' winery. Extreme care and craft go into detail, precision, and quality, in both their vineyard and cellar work. Their work in the vineyards is carried out entirely by hand, with the utmost respect for the soil and the vines. Pruning, budding, and leaf management are all done manually, without the use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides. CULTIVATION The variety Caberlot was first identified in the late 1960's in an abandoned vineyard. It is cultivated exclusively at Il Carnasciale with utmost respect for the soil and plants, entirely by hand. Manual harvest usually begins in late September, and the small baskets are cooled until brought to the cellar. VINIFICATION The grapes are destemmed and fermented in small stainless steel vats (8-10hL) with temperatures kept below 28-29° C. The cap formed by the mash is broken twice daily with a wooden cross to increase contact between the skins and the juice. The grapes from each vineyard and each day of harvest are fermented individually, and the use of sulfates is kept to a strict minimum. AGING The malolactic fermentations in barrel are followed by aging in carefully selected French fûts and barriques, of which 60% are new, two-thirds Tronçais oak and one third Allier and Vosges, blonde to medium toast. Wines kept in wood for period of 22 months, racking them only once. Bottled manually and unfiltered in magnums only, then aged in bottle for 16 months.', 'The retail price you see here is for the magnum, or the format this wine is normally sold in. However, this review is based on the 750-milliliter bottle that is called 'Sommelleria' because it is used in restaurants. Il Carnasciale's 2020 Il Caberlot is a 100% expression of the Caberlot grape that is featured at this estate only. It is reported to be a single grape variety that represents a cross of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. This edition shows green peppery aromas, and the mouthfeel is a leaner, maybe because of rain during harvest. It shows powdery tannins with end notes of spice, sage and dark fruit. Some 3,900 magnums were released.