Solaia - Toscana IGT 2007

Solaia - Toscana IGT 2007

Growing season The season with a very little rain, which caused sprouting and all other vegetative phases of the plants to take place earlier than usual. The temperatures during the first few months of summer are rather hot, while in August temperatures cooled down, allowing the plants' vegetative development to proceed normally. Nevertheless, harvesting was initially a bit ahead of schedule with respect to the average timing of previous vintages. In September and October, the days were hot and sunny and the nights were cool, thus creating great temperature fluctuations. These fluctuations, especially in the case of sangiovese. Right from the beginning of the process of vinification, it was clear that the clusters, and also also the must, were of excellent quality. Besides having very intense aromas and colors, the sangiovese and cabernet varietals differentiated themselves by their strong typicity. The optimal climatic conditions allowed the harvest, which took place between mid-September and the first week of October, to be carried out in a precise manner with an accurate selection of the best grape bunches. Vinification Due to the favorable climatic conditions during harvest time, the grapes from the Solaia vineyards could be picked according to their stage of ripeness, which resulted from their exposure to the sun. We have obtained very high quality grapes. The purpose of this study is to determine the quality of the grape bunches and the quality of the grapes. Harvesting was done strictly by hand and, as in previous years, during vinification a lot of attention was paid to the processes of fermentation and extraction. The next operations of detesting and pumping over were also conducted in a manner which preserved the varietal aromas and the heightened color of the grapes. Fermentation for each variety (sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon, and cabernet franc), took place at a temperature of around 27 ° C and never exceeded 31 ° C, which are clearly preserved present in the raw material. The musts are complex and varietal typicity in their aromas, demonstrating an elegance and color that foreshadowed that this would be an excellent vintage. After first racking, which was carried out when alcoholic fermentation had finished, the wines were put into oak barrels where malolactic fermentation took place by year's end. The wine was aged in 18 months. Throughout this time, the various lots were individually looked after and were tasted in order to control and obtain the best possible results from their aging process in the wood barrels. As usual, the evolution of each barrel was carefully monitored so as to control and guarantee the elegance and character of the tannins: which are also a result of the periodic racking that was carried out. The wine was subsequently blended and bottled on the estate, then aged for one more year in the bottle before being released on the market.