The tradition of wine in Italy is important, a point of reference that makes us understand where we come from and where we are going. This is even more true in Tuscany, the epitome of a wine region. For us, tradition is a valuable ally: ancient practices, mastery, all that know-how that required patience and was handed down from generation to generation. We do not want to follow fashions, but to carry on our identity, our history and our distinctive traits.
THE TRADITIONS OF CARMIGNANO
Having spoken of tradition, looking at us might seem to indicate the exact opposite. We have international vines in our blends, we produce an excellent rosè, we talk about the Wine of the Medici; these all seem to be choices more dictated by marketing than by tradition. However, this is simply good fortune. International vines, especially Cabernet, have an ancient history here: it is said that it was Catherine de’ Medici who brought Cabernet to the Carmignano area in the 16th century, so much so that it is considered an indigenous grape variety today. The Rosè is a wine that is produced historically on every local farm: it is called VinRuspo, because in the past a small amount was “ruspata” (stolen) by the farmers during the harvest, for their own enjoyment. Everyone drinks rosè in Carmignano, and certainly not for fashion. And the Medici connection is an important part of our history, to show how our wines have long enjoyed great recognition.
TRADITION IN THE WINERY: THE VIN SANTO Sweet Wine
For our Carmignano and Carmignano Riserva we mainly use large oak barrels, of 50 and 70 hectoliters. The smaller barrique barrel has a use intended for other types of wines, such as our Iris, where roundness and softness prevail. Then there is Vin Santo sweet wine, a product of the Tuscan tradition par excellence. It requires patience, low yields, a lot of manual work: each bunch is selected at the sorting table, then hung or placed on mats for a drying of at least 4 months. Once pressed, the resulting grape must is kept in traditional small caratelli barrels for4 years, or 5 if we are talking about the special Vin Santo Occhio di Pernice version. The Occhio di Pernice is a product we care deeply about, produced mostly from red grapes, especially Sangiovese, an amber nectar that enchants sip by sip.