Step #1
Stage #1 of Sommelier Wine Box (March 2018) was led by Andrea Gori - best sommelier of Tuscany 2006 and among the most influential people ever in the world of wine!
Andrea (the IT sommelier!) led us to discover how altitude influences the natural acidity of a grape variety .
In fact, of the various trends affecting wine today, the strongest is that relating to its acidity , responsible for the immediate effect on our palate.
After years of intense and full-bodied wines (almost jammy !), obtained from intense maturation and the use of wood that enhances the fruit and adds body, we are increasingly moving towards fresh wines - even transparent when possible - with reduced extract, capable of drink easily and appreciate at the table without covering the dishes offered in combination.
In France they call them glou glou wines from the onomatopoeic sound of swallowing them, but the concept is the same: wines that flow willingly and pleasantly into the glass without occupying the palate or weighing it down.
Obviously you have to choose the right vines and suitable territories : even where the vines tend to take on body and structure, in fact, if you go up in altitude you obtain greater finesse and acidity. If it is not possible to climb (viticulture at altitude is never easy, in fact it is often heroic !), it is necessary to look for areas with particular ventilation, subsoil and microclimate which do not accentuate the characteristics of body and structure but enhance its freshness.
This stage started from Monferrato , an area in great qualitative expansion which is receiving important investments, to end in Sicily , in the surprising hinterland of Palermo, passing through the evergreen Tuscany , always careful to grasp contemporary wine trends.
WE MET PASSIONATE WINEMAKERS, ON A STAGE FINISHED WITH EXPERIMENTATION, COURAGE AND LOVE FOR THEIR LAND.
The three wineries proposed are La Ballerina , Voltumna , Alessandro di Camporeale .