Old Italian wine made modern... Meet Ameri

Posted by Joelle Thomson on

Ameri is a stunning special new addition to our fine wine cabinet, which is 100% Sangiovese made using the traditional governo method; an old Italian winemaking technique where a portion of grapes are dried on the vine late in the season, then added into the wine to assist fermentation and boost complexity. 

Buy Ameri here

This wine is made by Podere San Cristoforo, a winery based in Maremma on the Tuscan coast. This is a beautiful warm area which the Italians refer to as the California of Tuscany.

When the Sangiovese grapes are fully ripe, the shoot is cut on the vine on which the grapes are growing, which leaves the bunches to dry for several days. This is called taglio del tralcio and it can only be done in warm and dry years. The partially dried grapes are added to Sangiovese that is already fermenting and this technique is known as governo, which was first described in 1774 in the book “The art of making a perfect and durable wine” by Ferdinando Paoletti from Florence.

The fermentation stops naturally because of the extreme ripeness of the grapes which raises alcohol levels to a point where the yeast dies off at 15+ % ABV, before all of the sugar can be consumed. This, in turn, leads to an intensely flavoursome, richly fruity wine. It wass matured for 10 months in old French oak barriques.

* Only 1600 bottles were produced.

Buy Podere San Cristoforo here


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