| Soil, grapes and barrels |
| The soil |
It
is the soil, with all its special qualities that gives wine its character.
The best wine then, will always be the wine that is drunk nearest to the
land that bore the vine from which it came. Nothing beats wine that comes
from a local vineyard, that is pressed locally and drunk locally.
This is why all our wines come from the Veneto region, a wine growing
area that is equal to any French vineyard.
The soil, then, is what gives life to the vine and hence the wine. What
is also significant is the number of vines in the vineyard and the distance
between rows, which must never be overcrowded.
The plants must also be exposed to the sun so that the leaves can grow
uniformly and the grapes can ripen properly.
Finally the irrigation of the soil must always be equally balanced.
Toblino's Castle
| The grapes |
Grapes are the fruit of the "Vitis vinifera" and a huge number of different types exist.
These can be divided into two colors, white grapes and black grapes.
At a commercial level they are also split into grapes for eating and grapes for winemaking.
Grapes grow in bunches which are made up of the stalks and the grapes themselves and the proportion varies greatly, even in the same vineyard.
Each grape is made up of three distinct parts:
a) the outer skin
b) the middle or pulp
c) the pips which contain a high proportion of oil and tannic substances.
The fermentation enzymes are found naturally in the skin of the grape or anywhere that vines are grown.
| The barrel |
The barrel is a make or break factor for the wine.
If the barrel is well made the wine will improve, if not it will deteriorate.
Wine is like a work of art, it is unique and cannot be mass produced.
To get a better idea of this, all you have to do is to take a look at
any wine cellar full of pot-bellied casks. The air will be heavy with
the scent of seasoned bay oak.
The wood, like the wine must be strictly top quality. It should be seasoned
for between three and five years, and if the wood is thick enough, it
should be seasoned in the open air in order to dry out its natural humidity
as much as possible.
Casks made of this kind of wood allow air to pass easily, enough to oxygenate
the wine to the correct level.
Not only that, but the wood also permeates the wine with its subtle vanilla
scent, the mark of a fine red wine.
The wooden barrel is a must for red wine. This is one of the reasons why
the work of the cask maker can be compared to that of the carpenter or
even the lute maker who builds violins, cellos and double basses.
The cask, like a musical instrument or a ship, must be interpreted and
shaped by an expert hand that makes each one slightly different from the
one before.
The secret: decanted three times, not filtered, matured for at least three
years in an oak cask and a cork that is at least 5 centimeters long.
Decanting wine is important, vital. And what is most important when wine
is decanted, is that it must not come into contact with the air.
Oxygen ruins wine.
A
barrel factory
Cellar