Tenuta l'Impostino - Viandante - Montecucco Sangiovese D.O.C.G.

Data Sheet

Name: Viandante

Appellation: Montecucco Sangiovese D.O.C.G.

Grapes: 100% Sangiovese

Vineyard: Alto Poggio

Planting year: 2002

Characteristics of the soil: medium tending to clayey, with a deep prole rich of thin skeleton and outcropping bedrock

Exposition: south-west

Altitude: 370 m asl

Planting density: 5.500 plants/ha

Pruning system: spurred cordon (Royat cordon)

Yield per hectare: 5 tonnes

Harvest: manual in boxes, at the end of September

Vinication: the grapes carefully harvested are manually selected on a sorting belt in the winery, before the beginning of the alcoholic fermentation with selected yeasts, at a constant temperature of 23°C. The maceration is about 25-30 days long, with pumpovers exposed to the air till the end of the fermentation and manual cap punching.

Duration of the alcoholic fermentation: 12-15 days

Malolactic fermentation: spontaneously in big wooden barrels and “second passage” barriques

Maturation: 18 months in French oak barriques of “second passage” and in 42 hl barrels with repeated batonnages in order to promote the extraction from the lees

Aging: 6 months in bottle

Analytical bottling data: alcohol: 14,56 %vol, residual sugar: 1,5 g/l, total acidity: 5,4 g/l, pH: 3,39, volatile acidity: 0,34 g/l

La Season

The spring that accompanied the earlier stages of development was marked by frequent rainfall and temperatures slightly below the average, the winter has left its place to the summer without particular thermal picks that could bring physiological
lost of balance or an excess in the vigor of the plants. The season continued with a hot and slightly rainy summer which helped to reduce the vigor of the plants and promoted the formation of medium size and particularly straggly bunches, showing us early the potentiality of this season. During the rst decade of September the rainfall was back and the plant had a chance to relax during the last steps of the ripening till the complete maturation of the grapes that, at tasting, showed the typicality of the area with a remarkable succulence, rich of wrapping tannins. The skin fragrant with the tendency to release the color and a crispy grape seed with only slightly reactive tannins and therefore mature let us understand that the grapes reached an optimal level of phenolic maturity.

Tasting Notes

Intense and consistent ruby red color. The fragrance is intense, with notes of fresh fruits, currant, blackberry and raspberry well integrated with a spicy and of aromatic wood background, with a hint of balsamic resin. To taste it shows its freshness and its character of a great aging wine, with an evident but already well integrated tannin, well balanced by the alcohol warmth. Elegant and typical bitter final, it reminds of the classical Sangiovese.

Food Pairings

It is a wine of great character, which allows equally important combinations; its great drinkability makes it pleasant with strong seasoning cheese with a strong taste. It is a natural companion of all the red meats, the roasted feathered game, and important meat sauces, such as duck or rabbit. It also accompanies well dishes of chitterlings such as liver or traditional Tuscan “crostini”. It is, however, with the traditional “Fiorentina” that the combination becomes exciting. It is best served at a temperature of 18 ° C, in large balloons.

Viandante ( The Wayfarer )

On the road that leads from Siena to Grosseto, almost exactly at half-way , was built in the years of the Middle Ages a point of aggregation and exchange, by the name of "Impostino", the small “Imposto”.

In this place, just on a hill top, with a spectacular view, and away from the fogs and miasmas of the Maremma  marshes , travelers could refresh themselves , find shelter and a hot meal .

It was logical that inseparable companion of evenings tired , and help the rest became a glass of good red wine.

Not whatever red wine: in these hills, arid and difficult to cultivate, where the work broke the backs to the winegrowers, the generous Sangioveto was home, and gave life to fine wines, robust and invigorating, so that his presence became a symbol and an identifying character of these lands, and in many ways also an important resource for the economic fortunes of the hills of Maremma, almost completely forested.

The Wayfarers in fact  tasted it, they  talked about it and took it with them as  got back to theyr homelands, helping to  make it one of the most appreciated wines in the entire Italian nation.

To the Wayfarer we dedicated our pure Sangiovese, with its strong and generous structure, which  links and best represents the character of our country and its people, made of 100% Sangiovese grapes, aged for 24 months in oak barrels.

Served at 18°C is a rich companion of important sauces, baked pasta, meats in general. It is perfect for the classical grilled Tbone Fiorentina steack.