CAIAROSSA    IGT Toscana

Grapes - principally Merlot (33%), Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc (33%) and Sangiovese (22%).  Small quantities of  Petit Verdot (6%), Alicante (3%), Syrah (2%) and Mourvedre (1%)

Origin - Caiarossa, località Serra all’Olio, 56046 Riparbella (Pisa), Toscana

Soils - partially calcerous clay, partially sand, with a high stone content

Vineyards- cordon trained, spur pruned, 9.050 vines per hectare, 4-5 years (planted 1999 to 2000), 150 to 250 metres above sea level

Agriculture - Biodynamic; without the use of herbicides, pesticides, or chemical fertilizers.   Low dosage of copper (25% of the authorised amount REG CEE 209/91), and sulphur. Herbal infusions; nettle, willow, chamomile and horsetail.  Limited fertilization with biodynamic preparations (500 and 501, as recommended by Steiner), intense work of the soil, using super-light tractors.

Harvest  - by hand in September and October 2004

Yields - 3 to 4 tonnes per hectare, 18 to 25 hectolitres per hectare

Selection of Grapes - in the vineyard and on the sorting table

Vinification  :
Prefermentation maceration 2 to 4 days.
Alcoholic fermentation in 50 hl oak casks and open barriques (indigenous yeasts only)
Initially either two remontages per day for 9 to 12 days, or twice daily manual pushdown of the cap with a paddle, followed by one remontage or one manual pushdown per day, for 4 to 7 days.
Total maceration time on skins: 20 to 30 days.
Malolactic fermentation in oak
Low SO2 addition, post MLF

Ageing - in French barriques and tonneaux (new and 1 year old) and 25hl oak casks for 16 months;
(only 25% new wood)

Alcohol -15,0 %

Production - 36.000 bottles