Bell'Aja | S. Felice

"The Beautiful Threshing Floor". The name evokes the old threshing floor where grain was dried and threshed: a down-to-earth, rural term for a place that has taken on a ganz andere Klang in the modern world of wine. Tenuta Bell’Aja is situated in Bolgheri, in the Località Le Sondraie, near the famous avenue of cypress trees which Giosuè Carducci immortalised in his 1874 poem “Davanti San Guido”. The poet saw his childhood here; San Felice saw a terroir here that was to become his third great playground. The soil of Bolgheri is different from that of Castelnuovo Berardenga: sandy loam, brooding, well-drained – no galestro, no limestone, but rather the alluvial deposits of a coastal climate that lend Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon a suppleness that heavy soils simply do not allow.

From the oldest Merlot plot in the Le Sondraie vineyards comes Bell'Aja’s flagship wine – a wine that impressively demonstrates the ambition of the San Felice project in Bolgheri. Since 2016, this estate has rounded off the historic group’s interpretation of Tuscan wine: from the hills of Chianti Classico, through the prestigious vineyards of Montalcino, to this shining jewel on the Etruscan coast. Bell’Aja Superiore embodies the pure essence of a unique terroir: 95% Merlot from the estate’s most venerable vines blends with 5% Cabernet Sauvignon to create a wine of impressive power and opulence. The sandy-clay soils of the Le Sondraie area, just five kilometres from the Tyrrhenian Sea, lend this Bordeaux-inspired blend the maritime minerality that makes Bolgheri one of the most fascinating terroirs in the wine world.

From the oldest Merlot parcel in the Le Sondraie vineyards comes Bell'Aja's flagship wine – a wine that impressively demonstrates the ambition of the San Felice project in Bolgheri. Since 2016, this Tenuta has completed the Tuscan wine interpretation of the historic group: from the hills of Chianti Classico to the prestigious vineyards of Montalcino to this radiant jewel on the Etruscan Coast. Bell'Aja Superiore embodies the pure essence of a unique terroir: 95% Merlot from the Tenuta's most venerable vines is combined with 5% Cabernet Sauvignon to create a wine of impressive power and opulence. The sandy-loamy soils of the Le Sondraie zone, just five kilometres from the Tyrrhenian Sea, give this Bordeaux-inspired blend the maritime minerality that makes Bolgheri one of the most fascinating terroirs in the wine world.

From the oldest Merlot plot in the Le Sondraie vineyards comes Bell'Aja’s flagship wine – a wine that impressively demonstrates the ambition of the San Felice project in Bolgheri. Since 2016, this estate has rounded off the historic group’s interpretation of Tuscan wine: from the hills of Chianti Classico, through the prestigious vineyards of Montalcino, to this shining jewel on the Etruscan coast. Bell’Aja Superiore embodies the pure essence of a unique terroir: 95% Merlot from the estate’s most venerable vines blends with 5% Cabernet Sauvignon to create a wine of impressive power and opulence. The sandy-clay soils of the Le Sondraie area, just five kilometres from the Tyrrhenian Sea, lend this Bordeaux-inspired blend the maritime minerality that makes Bolgheri one of the most fascinating terroirs in the wine world.