Elso is a wine close to Daniele Ricci's heart. It is dedicated to Ulisse, his maternal grandfather. According to Daniele, Ulisse, who everyone called Elso, was a grandmaster in the vinification of Croatina and showed the then young winemaker how to deal with the notoriously complicated vine, which always produces too many leaves and too few grapes. He taught him patience, first in the vineyard, where the grapes usually ripen a month later than those of other grape varieties, and then in the cellar, where it is best to calculate not in months but in years and decades.
Croatina has tannins that make its close relationship with Nebbiolo obvious. Wood - preferably 500 or 1000 litre barrels - suits it well. As its anthocyanins do not oxidise easily, its colour is deep and dark even after years of ageing in barrels and bottles, and as it tends to reduce - like Sangiovese - occasional contact with air is only good for it.
Croatina is anything but an easy variety to handle, but in the right hands it can lead to truly stunning results.
Style
Dense, powerful and intense. The palate is full-bodied, the tannins are demanding and pressurising and the alcohol also has an important say. However, the latter is not only absorbed by the tannins and the deep fruit, but also by the pulsating acidity. The finish is dry, warm and persistent. There is no end in sight to its development for the time being.
Data sheet
Grape variety: 100% Croatina
Vineyard:
Harvest: by hand
Fermentation: spontaneous | wild yeasts
Ageing: several years in used 500 and 1000 litre barrels
Filtration: no
SO₂: < 50mg/litre
Alcohol content: 15% vol
Closure: Natural cork
Drinking temperature: 16-18 °C
Perfect drinking maturity: from now - 2040
Content and price per litre: 0.75 l/(€33.5/l)
All the winegrowers listed on Vinonudo work with compost, organic fertiliser and natural preparations in their vineyards and do not use herbicides, pesticides or artificial fertilisers.
