Percarlo, San Giusto A Rentennano - 2017

An estate with an Etruscan name, located ten kilometres from Siena, San Giusto a Rentennano is situated in the southern part of Chianti Classico, on a hillside overlooking the river Arbia. In the 11th century, the property was home to a Cistercian monastery. Of the fortifications built by the Florentines in the 13th century to mark the limit of their territory against the Sienese, only a few crenellated bastions, walls and above all the cellars remain today. San Giusto then belonged to the Ricasoli family, from the nearby castle of Brolio. In 1957, Enrico Martini di Cigala inherited the property, which he passed on to his children Francesco, Luca and Elisabetta, who now manage the estate.San Giusto a Rentenanno covers 160 hectares. Thirty are planted with vines, eleven with olive trees, forty with forest and the rest is cultivated land. The soil here is complex, rich in mineral components: sand, clay, chalk and volcanic ash. The microclimate is characterised by very wide day/night temperature variations and often very hot summers. The vines of the estate are very well exposed and the oldest ones (forty years old) are used to carry out the massal selection of sangiovese and canaiolo plants, and thus to renew the vineyard. Green harvesting is carried out every year. The grapes are harvested by hand, usually between 15 September and 15 October. After harvesting, the wines are...