Blackberry, blueberry, violet and walnut aromas on the nose. Rich, concentrated fruit, a wine of many layers. Full bodied, ripe tannins and a beautiful finish of polished and well poised fruit.
The grapes to produce the Toscana IGT “L’Apparita” Castello di Ama are hand-harvested and vinified using native yeasts in steel tanks at a controlled temperature of 30/33°. After the malolactic fermentation, the wine is transferred to oak barriques of fine grain, 50% of which were new and the rest were second pass where is matures for approximately 14months.
L’Apparita was the first single varietal Merlot produced in Tuscany and it has been an iconic wine since its initial harvest in 1985. Two parcels at the top of the Bellavista vineyard comprise the L’Apparita cru. The open lyre training system and the predominately clay soil make this cru a crown jewel in world winemaking.
One of Tuscany’s leading, most historically important estates, Castello di Ama is responsible for some of the regions key innovations and has an extensive reputation for the production of premium quality wine. Located in Gaiole, in the sub region of Chianti Classico, the estate consists of 76 hectares under vine. Today it is run and owned by Lorenza Sebasti, descendant of one of the original four families and Marco Pallanti, one of Italy’s top winemakers. Together they have reinvested in the property, replanting old vineyards and built a state-of-the-art winery. Surrounding the village of Ama, the vineyards sit between 420 and 527 metres above sea level. All grapes are carefully selected, hand-harvested and fermented with native yeasts. Though Sangiovese remains the majority of their production, Pallanti is known for being one of the first to introduce French varietals to the Chianti Classico district, most notably Merlot and Cabernet Franc. He is recognized for adopting the notion of the single-vineyard cru system in Chianti Classico, with Vegneto Bellavista, Vigneto San Lorenzo and Vigneto La Casuccia. Castello di Ama produce benchmark wines, both profoundly complex and refined. Their single vineyards Casuccia, Bellavista and San Lorenzo are considered some of Italy’s greatest red wines and can age gracefully for decades, while the Merlot L’Apparita is simply world famous and one of the world’s greatest expressions of the Merlot variety.
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