Cellar
THE WINEMAKING CELLAR AND WINE MATURATION
Winemaking Style
For Jacopo Biondi Santi, every wine is an exclusive product tied to the land and human knowledge. On one side, there’s the great winemaking vocation and potential expressed by the Maremma territory, particularly in the Scansano region. On the other, there’s an awareness of being an heir to a wealth of knowledge linked to one of the historical Italian wine families, where research, quality, and expressive consistency in the longevity of wines have been the cornerstones of a winemaking style that is more unique than rare.
THE ART OF WINEMAKING AT CASTELLO DI MONTEPÒ
An Exclusive Production Environment
Harvest after harvest, every year’s challenge is to maintain high standards of excellence, with the scrupulous aim of enhancing the interaction between grape and terroir that comes to life within the varieties grown in an exclusive production context. In the cellar, each operation becomes a unique interpretation aimed at preserving and enhancing what nature has shaped during the growth and maturation of the grape clusters. The working areas are located within the splendid manor and organized to preserve the quality of the grapes that arrive for vinification, highlighting the characteristics of uniqueness that the wines of Castello di Montepò are capable of expressing. Strictly stainless steel tanks are used for alcoholic and malolactic fermentation; macerations are extended to ensure the best extraction of polyphenols, ideal for imparting complexity, elegance, and longevity to the wines.
THE FUNDAMENTAL ROLE OF BARRELS IN WINE MATURATION
Careful Selection of Barrels and Barriques
The barrel room is located in a lower area where the particular structure with visible bricks maintains an average temperature around 16°C and constant humidity, ideal for the maturation of great reds. The meticulousness of the production style desired by Jacopo Biondi Santi is also evident in the careful selection of barrels and barriques: the choice of woods, along with their toasting, is a determining factor for the evolution that each label of Castello di Montepò must achieve over time. The red wines mature in barriques made from oak and oak trees sourced from the Tronçais forests, historically considered the best in the Ailler department. However, the preference for these specific French woods is due to other factors as well: the staves have a fine grain because they are made from trees with an average age of about 150 years and are better suited for the maturation of fine wines because they facilitate the aging of tannins and their silky smoothness, distinguishing characteristics of the great reds of Castello di Montepò.
