2019’s from Franchetti’s Tenuta di Trinoro

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Today we offer Andrea Franchetti’s two 2019 Bordeaux blends from Tenuta di Trinoro.

The 2019 Le Cupole and 2019 Tenuta di Trinoro💯.

Every time I’ve tasted these they have been inspiring. As with his Etna Estate, Passopisciaro, as each year has passed they have continued to improve and impress. Full of personality they offer great pleasure and are a demonstration of what can be achieved by individuals that hold true to their convictions.

About Tenuta di Trinoro

We lost Andrea to cancer in December 2021 at just 72 years of age. His pioneering spirit brought us to Tuscany with his wines from Tenuta di Trinoro, and onto Mount Etna with Passopisciaro. As a tiny consolation we still have his wines to share and devour.

Paul Kaan – WINE DECODED

Located in a remote corner of southeastern Tuscany, Tenuta di Trinoro specializes in rich, age-worthy red wines made of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot. The 200-hectare estate sits in viticultural isolation in the Orcia Valley near Sarteano, where Tuscany meets Umbria and Lazio.

Owner and winemaker Andrea Franchetti acquired the property in the 1980s and in the beginning of the 1990s started planting his first vines. The most important lesson he gleaned from a stint in Bordeaux was the crucial role played by terroir. He saw, in the rough woodland that would become Trinoro,clay-limestone and gravel soils reminiscent of those in Saint-Émilion. Only select parcels were suitable for vine-growing, amid a sea of blue clay, and those he cleared by hand and planted in the style of the Bordelais: high-density, meter-by-meter plantings, with cuttings brought over from some of the region’s great estates.

Tight planting, high thinning, very low yields, extreme ripeness, and concentration of flavor characterize his winemaking style. The wines are highly perfumed and opulent, at once approachable and meant to be left to develop in the bottle over time.

Andrea Franchetti continues to make some of the most compelling wines in Italy. Readers will find much to admire in these new wines from Franchetti’s Tenuta di Trinoro, including a superb rendition of the flagship wine. The Cupole, the estate’s second label, is once again one of the very best wines in its price range. 

Antonio Galloni, Vinous

In the Vineyard

Placed under a mountain, Tenuta di Trinoro has a mosaic of soils. The vines, densely planted at 10,000 vines per hectare, are more than 27 years old (2019) and, with their extended root system, they have become able to render a distinct taste from every terrain of the estate. 23 hectares are under vine, planted between 400 and 620 meters on southwestern facing slopes. Cabernet Franc and Merlot dominate the plantings, with small parcels of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot on the perimeter.

High thinning, very low yields, extreme ripeness. Orgnaic practices marked by fertilization by sheep manure. Treatment with copper, sulphur, clay, propolis (olive leave extracrt) and grapefruit seed extract.

Frosts at Tenuta di Trinoro being held at bay by thousands of firepots lighting up the night sky.

In the Winery

Yields of only 15 hl/ha for the Trinoro see them at half those of DRC! The Le Cupole yields are around 50hl/ha.

Hand harvested fermented in stainless steel vats for 10-15 days followed by ageing for 5 months in French oak and 1 year in cement.

Concentration of flavor characterize his winemaking style.

The 2019 Vintage at Tenuta di Trinoro

From Tenuta di Trinoro:

A cold spring, with a May that hardly existed there was frost on May 7th, which required us to spend the night lighting over 9,000 candles in our lowest vineyards to prevent damage during flowering. This was followed by a prolonged period of cold that delayed flowering, especially for the early ripening Semillon and merlot. Spare bunches, small berries, thick skins.

Most of August, it was so hot that the plants shut down they were already tired given the bumper crop of the previous year. This was followed by another drop in temperature at the end of the month, which paralyzed the maturation of all of the vines, especially the late ripening Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. 2019 was the latest ripening vintage we’ve seen in ten years.

We began the 14th of September with the Semillon, which was brought in over 2-3 pickings, and the first bit of merlot from the hillsides, with the heart of the fruit coming in around the 10th. The waiting period between the Merlot and cabernet franc this year was very short, with the franc mostly in by the 18th. Even with a rainy and cool start of October, we were impressed by the quality and quantity: 5 or 6 excellent parcels of merlot, the same for the franc, due to the smaller and tighter bunches with fewer berries, but more left on the vines this vintage.

Where in the World is Tenuta di Trinoro?

Tenuta di Trinoro is located in the Val d’Orcia, where Umbria and Lazio meet.