“Percarlo” Sangiovese di Toscana IGT 2022 (BIO)

San Giusto a Rentennano | Tuscany
Fattoria San Giusto a Rentennano| Loc. S.G. a Rentennano | IT 53013 Gaiole in Chianti

29572422 · 0,75 l · 132,00 €/l · Price (DE) incl. VAT, excl. Shippingavailable immediately
Limitation of 4 articles per customer

1983 was the first year. Luca Martini di Cigala, then in the process of taking over an estate that was still selling its wine in bulk to Antinori and Ruffino, decided to do the opposite of what many of his contemporaries were doing: no international grape varieties, no modernisation of the label, no barriques full of vanilla. A single wine, from a single field of grapes, from a single grape variety. Sangiovese. San Giusto a Rentennano – percarlo made his debut with the 1983 vintage – and immediately began to rewrite the history of Chianti Classico. The philosophy of the wine is the philosophy of its maker: vineyard before cellar. The grapes for the Percarlo are not selected by parcel, but every bunch of grapes is checked, every vine, every site. The yield is one kilogramme per vine. This has been the approach since 2001, because Martini di Cigala recognised how inconsistent Sangiovese can be from vine to vine, even within the same parcel. The soils that are the inspiration for the Percarlo originate mainly from the Pliocene period – layers of sand and stones, two to five metres deep, on a bed of clay. Mineral, draining, with the ability to speak to the Sangiovese for years.

Fermentation takes place in glazed concrete vats, steel and wood, with natural yeasts, up to 35 days of mash contact. No pressure, no rush. Then the decisive step: Martini di Cigala gave up barriques completely around two decades ago. Sangiovese, he says, is too sensitive to oxygen for small barrels. Today, Percarlo matures exclusively in large wooden barrels of 30 hectolitres and Liters tonneaux for 20 to 22 months. Then a further 15 months in the bottle before it leaves the estate.

2022 was a vintage of vigour and concentration in Gaiole: warm, even growing season, dry summer, good polyphenol ripeness. For a wine like Percarlo, which prioritises time above all else, this meant: depth without heaviness, structure without aggression. Intense, deep ruby red colour with garnet reflections. Initially complex and restrained on the nose: red cherries, dried berries, raspberry, camphor, damp earth, violets, laurel, a hint of dry tobacco. With air, it opens up to an aroma that no other Tuscan grape variety can match. Full-bodied and velvety on the palate, with a wave of rich fruit over finely structured, precise tannins and an acidity that supports the wine like a backbone. A long, mineral-salty finish that never ends. A wine that shows that the greatest vintages of Percarlo are not the loudest. SUPERIORE.DE