San Giusto a Rentennano ‘Vin San Giusto’ 375ml 2012

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

This sweet wine is made from 90% Malvasia and 10% Trebbiano grapes, hand-picked when perfectly mature, and dried on racks in a well ventilated room for approximately 140 days. After the grapes are pressed, the must is sealed in small chestnut barrels, each containing 40 to 180 litres, which are placed in lofts where they are subject to seasonal temperature change. Here the wine ferments and develops slowly over a six year period,during which time 40% evaporates, which accounts for its extraordinary concentration. Before bottling, the wine is filtered, drop by drop, through Holland cloth. Vin San Giusto has long ageing potential. It is bottled and held for a further 18 months, before it is released. It should be sipped at cellar temperature 10°C (50°F). This wine containes no added sulfites.

About San Giusto a Rentennano

San Giusto a Rentennano, originally a monastery fortified in 1204 by the Florentines as their boundary with Siena, today uses the underground vaults built as part of the fortification as their cellars. For centuries it was owned by the Ricasoli family of neighbouring Brolio, passing to the Martini di Cigala family in 1957. This beautiful 160 hectare estate, with 30 of vineyards, is run by brothers and sister team of Francesco, Luca and Elisabetta. The vineyards enjoy exceptional exposure with considerable day and night temperature differences and the terrain is composed of various soils rich in minerals.

San Giusto’s wines are renowned for their elegance, balancing rich fruit and beautiful aromatics with superb freshness. Chianti Classico shows great purity with bright red fruits and floral notes. Le Baroncole, a Riserva selection aged for 16-20 months in barrique, has dark cherry fruit, flowers, spice and liquorice. Percarlo, the estate’s flagship wine first made in 1983, is a selection of Sangiovese from across six cru vineyards that form the best expression of the terroir of San Giusto. Multi-layered with rich dark fruit supported by firm tannins and beautifully integrated oak, Percarlo is a powerful wine that cellars well for up to 20 years in the finest vintages. La Ricolma, one of world’s great Merlots, is typically silky with rich plummy fruit and a distinct stamp of ‘Tuscanness’.

Finally, Vin San Giusto is one of Tuscany’s finest Vin Santos. Made mostly from Malvasia with 10% Trebbiano, the grapes are dried on racks for approximately 140 days before being pressed into six small chestnut barrels for six years. Concentrated and complex with fig, toffee, salted caramel, prunes and spice, the palate goes on and on. This is one of Italy’s must try before you die wines, unfortunately our allocation is just 24 bottles.

In the Vineyard

The estate is comprised of 160 hectares, situated at an average altitude of 270 meters above sea level. 31 hectares are planted in vineyards, 11 in olive groves, 40 in woods, 78 in cultivated and grazing lands. The terrain is composed of various soils rich in different mineral components, sand, clay, lime, alkali, argil and calcium. The microclimate is characterized by considerable day and night temperature differences and often heat during harvest time. All the vineyards enjoy exceptionally favourable exposure. During the months of July and August, we thin-out the natural growth of grape bunches by 30-50%, a practice called “green harvesting ,” which encourages the full and perfect maturation of our grapes.

Our farming methods remain largely manual and exclusively organic certified.

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In the Winery

That first bit of kit in the pic’s below is a seriously expensive destemmer. Having one is sign that a winery is intent on working gently with the fruit and is prepared to spend coin to build divine mouthfeel and tannin profiles. You can see one in operation in this Wine Bites Mag article “Winemaking Excellence – Fruit Sorting & Destemming at Yabby Lake with Tom Carson”.

Making the Vin San Guisto

Production of this wine is a painstaking labor of love. If they made a white out of the grapes it would return 10 times the volume!

White dessert wine – Grapes: Malvasia 90% – Trebbiano 10%

Harvest: from 17th to 19th September 2012

Yield for vine: kg 1,3

Grapes dried on racks in a well ventilated ambience for 120 days – Drop-pressed in horizontal press machine – Yield of the must: 20%

Ageing process: 6 years in small chestnut an oak barrels of 60-75-120 lt. With addition of the “mother”*. The barrels are sealed and placed in lofts where they are subject to seasonal temperature change.

Decanting process: 23-01-2019 – Decrease in volume while in barrel: 55%

Filtration: drop by drop through Holland cloth*

Bottled : 28 June 2019 – Production: n. 2366 bottles of 375 ml , each single bottle in an elegant casing of its own, then packaged three at a time in larger box.

Analysis: – Alchol: 9.5% – Acidity: 6.98 g/Lt; – Net extract: 460.1 g/Lt – Volatile Acidity : 1.8 g/Lt – Sugar : 400 g/Lt – pH: 3.47

This wine contains no added sulfites. First vintage in the bottle : 1979 Suitable for drinking: 2020/2034 and beyond

* The mother is a deposit which forms at the bottom of the barrel and impregnates the staves. It is the primary source of the yeasts through the long fermentation process.

*As the wine has been only lightly filtered ,some deposit of organic matter may occur.

Where in the World is San Giusto?

San Giusto is in the Gaiole within the Chianti Classico sub-region of Tuscany.

COther sub-regions include Montalcino and Montepuliciano. Like Montalcino, Chianti covers a large area and is relatively poorly defined in comparison to the likes of Barolo.

As is often the case with Italian wines there is confusion created by an ever changing general classification system. In this case we have wines two basic designation. The first, the Chianti Classico DOCG for which you see a black rooster on the label or neck tie which come from a defined area between Florence and Sienna. The Second Chianti DOCG or greater Chianti region that surrounds the Chianti Classico DOCG which in turn is broken up into seven sub-regions as seen in the second map below.

Isole e Olena – Is in the Chianti Classico DOCG, sub-region Barberino Val d’Elsa to the west of Radda