Colline San Biagio is a farm located in Carmignano, in the heart of the Tuscan countryside and more precisely in Bacchereto, a small hamlet where Leonardo da Vinci grew up in the home of his paternal grandparents located a few meters from the farm. The production of Carmignano DOCG is allowed only in two municipalities, Carmignano and Poggio a Caiano, for a total extension of about 220 hectares, a small wine jewel recognized nationally and internationally.
There is evidence of excellent wine production in the Carmignano area already in Etruscan and Roman era, thanks to the discoveries of wine jars, cellar tools, glasses and strainers dating back to the Etruscan period and the assignment to his veterans, between 60 B.C. and 50 B.C., by Julius Caesar, Roman Consul, of lands cultivated with vines.
In 1716, the Grand Duke Cosimo III dè Medici issued a Decree declaring our territory of Carmignano as an excellent and high quality wine-making area marking its borders, so as to create the first “Denomination of Controlled Origin”.
In addition to being the oldest ante litteram Denomination of controlled origin, it is also one of the first denominations to have obtained recognition as D.O.C. since 1969, to then become the current Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin (DOCG) since 1988.
A territory of history and traditions where our family has been an actress and ambassador for centuries.
VINEYARDS
The Vineyards are declined on the slopes of Montalbano, at an altitude between 200 and 280 meters above sea level, and divided into red grape varieties such as Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, as well as Trebbiano and Malvasia with white grape, have their roots in soils deriving from Alberese marly limestones, rich shale of Galestro and sandstone.
Vineyards between 20 and 40 years of age with spurred cordon and Tuscan arch breeding systems, are conducted in full respect of natural cycles and fed with marc as organic fertilizer and green manure with leguminous and gramineae, the latter cut and buried during the flowering period.
The protection of Montalbano from cold currents, the texture, the altitude, the exposure of the land are a prerequisite for a unique microclimate characterized by light, sun, light breezes and strong temperature variations between day and night, an a true gift of nature for a slow and perfect ripening of the grapes, crucial for the preservation of aromas and the making of territorial, elegant and long-lived wines.
HARVEST
The grape harvest is the crowning achievement of a path that follows a natural cycle in which we take care of every single vine.
Green pruning, defoliation and thinning to leave only the best bunches represent the process to obtain intact and concentrated grapes.
From the closure of the bunches, the grapes are constantly checked to be tasted daily during the harvest period. Only the bunches that have reached their perfect maturity flow into the aerated cases, with strictly manual collection.
Bunches of the same vineyard or of the same rows can reach their perfect ripeness on different days.
This variability depends on the exposure and the altitude, for this reason we operate a multiplicity of harvest, we follow the evolution of nature and every effort is targeted to enhance the qualities that nature itself offers us.
WINE CELLAR
The vinification follows the succession of the harvests rigorously, each single harvest is vinified in stainless steel tanks separately, where fermentation lasts not more than fifteen-twenty days spontaneously, during which the control is continous and wines undergoes numerous pumpovers and délestage in order to oxygenate the masses well.
The rest in the wood, where malolactic fermentation takes place, is aimed at enhancing the evolution of each individual wine. We only choose woods that are naturally selected and processed.
We believe that meticulous and careful work, aimed at preserving, enhancing and accompanying nature in its evolution, it can generate products that are an expression of ideas, passion, authenticity and love.
