Marchesi Antinori - Guado al Tasso Il Bruciato Bolgheri 2013
Pairing Suggestions
Blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot en 10% Syrah. In the glass deep to inky purple color. In the nose dominant earthy notes with ripe black and red fruits aroma complements by black pepper. On the palate black cherry, plums and sweet spices on the palate, long peppery finish, soft tannins. Powerful, rich and hot, bold texture, well balanced, complex, thick acidity and gentle tannins. Paired great with the meat. Open 3 hours before!
CLIMATE
The 2013 vintage was characterized by a rather cool climate, principally during the springtime and in the fall. Winter was rainy, and the precipitations left good reserves of ground water in the sub-soil. After a cool spring , a warm and sunny summer assisted the proper growth of both grapes and vegetation. In the case of that part of the crop harvested late in the season, a careful program of leaf removal to expose the grape bunches to direct sunlight, an operation carried out two weeks before the harvest, was essential to the achievement of the levels of extract and complexity which distinguish this wine.
VINIFICATION
The grapes selected for the wine come from a series of vineyard plots which extend over 200 acres (80 hectares) and together express the essential characteristics of Bolgheri as a territory. The ten to fifteen day period of fermentation and skin contact took place in stainless steel tanks at temperatures of 82-86° Fahrenheit (28-30° centigrade). A part of the Merlot and Syrah musts were fermented at lower temperatures to better conserve varietal aromas. The malolactic fermentation was carried out partly in barrels and partly in tank and was terminated by the end of the year. The wine was then racked and returned to barrel, where it aged for an additional seven months. At the end of this aging period the wine was bottled and given a further four months of bottle aging before commercial release.
HISTORICAL DATA
The Guado a Tasso estate is located approximately 50 miles (80 kilometers) to the southwest of the city of Florence near the medieval hamlet of Bolgheri. The property, with an overall surface area of some 2500 acres (1000 hectares), extends from the Tyrrhenian sea to the inland hills and consists, in addition to its 750 acres (300 hectares) of vineyards, of wheat, oats, and barley fields, olive groves, and woods where a herd of “cinta sense” pigs - a prized local breed - grazes.
Wineproducer: www.antinori.it