Riserva Prima Luce Vernaccia di San Gimignano | Cappella Sant'Andrea

DENOMINATION: Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG

TYPE: white

GRAPES: vernaccia 100%

PROVENANCE: Italia, Toscana

AGEING POTENTIAL: anche 10 anni

SERVING TEMPERATURE: 10-12° C

GlASS: calice di media ampiezza

ALCOHOL: 12,5% vol.

FORMAT: 75 cl

THE WINE

TECHNICAL SPECIFICS

FRESHNESS: ◼︎◼︎◼︎◼︎◻︎
BODY: ◼︎◼︎◼︎◼︎◻︎
SAPIDITY: ◼︎◼︎◼︎◻︎◻︎
SOFTNESS: ◼︎◼︎◼︎◻︎◻︎
TANNICITY: ◼︎◻︎◻︎◻︎◻︎

NOTES FROM OUR SOMMELIER

👁 a beautiful and deep straw yellow that goes towards orange;

👃🏻 on the nose it expresses a complex and articulated bouquet: from fruits to dried flowers to wheat, barley, peat;

👄 on the palate it is rich, dense and full of personality, with a hint of raised tannins that make it even more interesting to drink; closes savory and complex.

FOOD PAIRINGS

This Vernaccia immediately presents itself without veils, with aromas that manage to capture the interest, in which the flowers are first protagonists, without excess, and then make room for fruity notes. It is endowed with flavor, a robust structure, which allows it to accompany, in combination, also some varieties of red meats but which usually finds the perfect match in white meats. Try it with rabbit alla Vernaccia, appetizers or delicate fish-based first courses, such as turbot.

FWINE-MAKING AND AGEING

From the old vineyards of Vernaccia (organic and facing east on sandy soils rich in fossil skeleton) that see the first light of the day, hence the name of this Reserve. The grapes are harvested by hand at the end of September, fermented on the skins in a terracotta amphora for a month; it matures in contact with the fine lees for 2 years: the first in terracotta amphorae, the second in steel. Bottling without filtration, and resting in the bottle for 6 months before being released.

YOU'LL LOVE IT FOR...

its complexity.

ORIGIN

TERROIR

We are in San Gimignano, an area where wine-growing is king.

The territory of San Gimignano is an area characterised by a Mediterranean climate with rather dry summers, not particularly harsh winters and alternating rainfall, especially in April, May and November.
The area benefits from good ventilation throughout the year, with rare episodes of fog.

The production area of the protected designations falls entirely within the municipality of San Gimignano, in the north-west of the province of Siena, in the heart of Tuscany. It is an entirely hilly area situated between 200 and 400 m above sea level, with very ancient soil of Pliocene origin.

The soils destined for wine production are those formed on Pliocene marine deposits and consisting of yellow sands (tuff) and yellow clays that are, in turn, often stratified on more compact clays present at depth. In addition, these soils are strongly characterised by the presence of sand and are almost skeleton-free, incoherent and therefore favourable to the penetration of plant roots.

They are generally poor in organic matter and, thanks to the sand, are well drained. The tufa gives the wines flavour. The hills of San Gimignano have variable exposures, altitudes, soil compositions and water availability.
The many and unique combinations of these individual factors have a significant impact, even in such a small area, on the characteristics of the wines produced there, leading to substantial differences between the fruity characteristics in evidence, the mineral characteristics and the flavour.

WINERY

In the land of Brunello and Chianti, it is not easy for a Tuscan area to stand out for the production of a white wine, but this is what San Gimignano has done with great merit with its Vernaccia. The importance of the San Gimignano area's wine-growing history is demonstrated by one fact among many: Vernaccia di San Gimignano was the first wine to obtain D.O.C. status in 1966, together with Est! Est! Est! di Montefiascone, Ischia white, red and superior and Frascati.

The Cappella Sant'Andrea winery, in Casale di San Gimignano, condenses the industrious and proud spirit of an area with a very strong wine vocation, and manifests it in the passionate and conscious work of Flavia Del Seta and Francesco Galgani. Their first harvest was in 2006 and their approach was - and still is - first and foremost one of great respect for the vineyard and the land. Flavia and Francesco feel responsible for continuing a very old tradition.
At Cappella Sant'Andrea, the watchword is sustainability: conversion to organic farming is the logical consequence of their philosophy, but it is not the only step along the way. Cappella Sant'Andrea is in fact the meeting point of harmonious coexistence, where the vineyard shares the land with donkeys, goats and horses, under the universal sign of nature. The presence of the animals allows the self-production of compost, to be used for the vitality of the soil.

There are eight hectares of vines and in addition to Vernaccia, there are native Tuscan vines and Merlot.
The wines produced by Cappella Sant'Andrea are the summary in the bottle of the dimension that Flavia and Francesco have created, removed from the frenzy of modern society and directed towards a healthy and respectful production.