“Oratorio di San Lorenzo” Carménère Riserva Colli Berici DOC 2021

Inama | Veneto
Soc. Agr. di Inama Giuseppe s.s. | Località Biacche 50 | IT 37047 San Bonifacio

03342721 · 0,75 l · 132,00 €/l · Price (DE) incl. VAT, excl. Shippingavailable immediately
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There are places in this world that seem destined by a higher power to produce something extraordinary. The Oratorio di San Lorenzo is one such place – a small valley nestled amongst the rolling hills of the Colli Berici, where monks have lived in quiet contemplation for centuries and where, today, Stefano Inama has completed his life's work. Here, in the shadow of a small 16th-century chapel dedicated to Saint Lawrence, a wine is produced each year – but only in the very finest vintages – that is unlike any other: Oratorio di San Lorenzo – Inama's red masterpiece and perhaps the purest expression of Carménère outside Chile. The story of this wine is one of vision and passion.

When Stefano Inama decided in the late 1990s to expand his white wine empire to include red wines, chance led him to take a sip from an unlabelled glass – that legendary moment of "love at first taste" that changed his life. The wine was made from Carménère grapes, that almost forgotten Bordeaux variety which had been brought to the iron-rich red soils of the Colli Berici by French emigrants in the mid-19th century. Stefano immediately recognised the potential of this grape variety on this special terroir and, in two stages, acquired the twelve-hectare valley surrounding the Oratorio – an investment in the future that was to prove brilliant.

The terroir of the Oratorio di San Lorenzo is geologically unique: layers of limestone alternate with fine red clay – that characteristic "terra rossa" formed by the oxidation of iron-rich sediments. The vineyard, facing entirely south and laid out like a natural sun trap, is surrounded by unspoilt forests, which not only supply organic matter from limestone and clay but also create the dramatic temperature fluctuations that give the Carménère its unique character. Hot by day, refreshingly cool by night – these natural temperature extremes create ideal conditions for the slow, even ripening of the late-ripening Carménère grapes. Since 2009, when Inama launched the new "Colli Berici Carménère Riserva" DOC with the Oratorio, he has been the only winemaker in Europe with such a focused Carménère project. The transformation of the estate reached a new dimension with the collaboration with Stéphane Derenoncourt from 2017 onwards: theOenologist from Bordeaux helped to strike a balance between power and elegance, between territorial authenticity and international class.

A deep, almost opaque carmine red with violet highlights. The bouquet is a revelation: intense aromas of black berries blend with notes of cocoa, black pepper and exotic spices, whilst a hint of graphite and tobacco underscores the complexity. On the palate, a wine of monumental structure unfolds: full-bodied and powerful, yet never heavy, with velvety tannins that reveal perfect phenolic ripeness. Aromas of plums, dark chocolate and a hint of liquorice culminate in an endless final of rare length and harmony. The label – a dancer balancing on a ball, turning from the church towards God, who holds out a heart to her – symbolises the duality between the sacred and the profane, for which the wine serves as a perfect metaphor. Oratorio di San Lorenzo is more than just a Carménère – it is Inama's spiritual testament, a wine that expresses the soul of a place and the passion of a life's work in the finest possible form. SUPERIORE.DE