Mastrojanni Botrys Toscana 2004
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Intertwining iridescent geologies: clays, millenary cobblestone debris, tuffs and sandstones. The strong salinity of the ground and the temperature range must be carefully understood. The climate is influenced by Mount Amiata, an ancient extinct volcano that stands high above the horizon with its 1 mile height. The estate stretches over 240 acres, 80 of which are cultivated with vines, 42 for Brunello, with vineyards from 8 to 41 years old. The altitude of the vineyards varies from 620 to 1340 feet high. The vine exposure is towards the south-east, with more and less steep slopes.
Sangiovese dominates in the vineyard, being the absolute protagonist of Mastrojanni wines. It is present in the Brunello, the Rosso, in the cru Loreto and in the cru Schiena d’Asino; the latter produced only in extraordinary vintages. With a pinch of imagination and fun, the winery created a "Supertuscan" IGT San Pio, a harmonious blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese. To conclude with a sweet ending, the Moscadello of Montalcino late harvest Botrys, their golden nectar, a blend of Muscat, Malvasia di Candia and Sauvignon Blanc.
A strong identity, coherence and consistency in quality: these are the values that Mastrojanni has created and cultivated over the years and which enabled the company to stand out among more than 200 wine producers of the Consortium of Brunello di Montalcino wines, with its original and high-quality profile. These values are the result of a passionate, proud and respectful interpretation of nature, tradition and history of the territory.
Apart from the classics, we find many regional gems of different styles.
Late harvest wines are probably the easiest to understand. Grapes are picked so late that the sugars build up and residual sugar remains after the fermentation process. Ice wine, a style founded in Germany and there referred to as eiswein, is an extreme late harvest wine, produced from grapes frozen on the vine, and pressed while still frozen, resulting in a higher concentration of sugar. It is becoming a specialty of Canada as well, where it takes on the English name of ice wine.
Vin Santo, literally “holy wine,” is a Tuscan sweet wine made from drying the local white grapes Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia in the winery and not pressing until somewhere between November and March.
Rutherglen is an historic wine region in northeast Victoria, Australia, famous for its fortified Topaque and Muscat with complex tawny characteristics.
One of the most iconic Italian regions for wine, scenery and history, Tuscany is the world’s most important outpost for the Sangiovese grape. Tuscan wine ranges in style from fruity and simple to complex and age-worthy, Sangiovese makes up a significant percentage of plantings here, with the white Trebbiano Toscano coming in second.
Within Tuscany, many esteemed wines have their own respective sub-zones, including Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. The climate is Mediterranean and the topography consists mostly of picturesque rolling hills, scattered with vineyards.
Sangiovese at its simplest produces straightforward pizza-friendly Tuscan wines with bright and juicy red fruit, but at its best it shows remarkable complexity and ageability. Top-quality Sangiovese-based wines can be expressive of a range of characteristics such as sour cherry, balsamic, dried herbs, leather, fresh earth, dried flowers, anise and tobacco. Brunello, an exceptionally bold Tuscan wine, expresses well the particularities of vintage variations and is thus popular among collectors. Chianti is associated with tangy and food-friendly dry wines at various price points. A more recent phenomenon as of the 1970s is the “Super Tuscan”—a red wine made from international grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah, with or without Sangiovese. These are common in Tuscany’s coastal regions like Bolgheri, Val di Cornia, Carmignano and the island of Elba.