Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto 2016

2016 vintage is the perfect balance among elegance, opulence, structure and complexity. Winter was warmer than average with some rain in February while budding was regular during the first week of April. Flowering took place on the last week of May with sunnier days, following a mild summer with sporadic rainfall. Ripening process was slowly but consistent, also thanks to the big range between day and night temperatures right before harvest.

Founded in 1971 by Giovanni Neri who with his great vision and passion understood the huge potential of wine in the Montalcino territory, it was passed on to his son Giacomo in 1991. First came the Cerretalto vineyard, a unique terroir in a natural amphitheatre over the Asso river in which the old vines produced a Sangiovese different from the others, with small bunches, from which a selective variety was grown that was used in out other vineyards particularly in Tenuta Nuova. The acquisition of Cerretalto was followed by that of Le Cetine, Pietradonice and then Podernovo. All this by researching the best soil and exposures so as to produce unique and recognizable wines.

The first Brunello harvest was 1978. This was followed by Cerretalto 1981, Rosso di Montalcino 1982, Tenuta Nuova 1993, Pietradonice 2000, IrRosso di Casanova di Neri and the last one Ibbianco 2011. Currently the estate covers a surface of around 500 hectares of which 63 are vineyards, 20 olive groves and the rest arable land and forest.

Casanova di Neri winery is mostly underground, facing north and with a natural room temperature without having to resort to air conditioning. It was planned following a rational design that supports the winery's production principles of low impact and natural processes. The structure is on three levels so as to take advantage of gravity and was built according to the needs of Casanova di Neri and of their vision of the productive process, intent on respecting the quality of the grapes and on enhancing the characteristics of the different grapes and above all of the different vineyards that they come from. Before the vinification the grapes are sorted on a selection belt after which they are de-stemmed and passed on to a further selection belt where they choose the best grapes that fall by gravity into the vats.