To get from the Maggioli family’s Tenuta Saiano to the vineyard used for the Vigne Alberello, you have to cross—this doesn’t happen every day—two national borders. The fact that the drive still takes only 45 minutes is due to the west–east route through San Marino being just 14 kilometres long. Not far from the small country lies the tiny hamlet of Gaiano, where Luca, a friend of the Tenuta, owns a vineyard with old Sangiovese vines trained in the bush system (Italian → alberello) and cultivates it on behalf of the Maggioli family.
Once omnipresent in Italy, the alberello training system has now become a rarity. The main reasons are the high amount of manual labour, often in a bent posture, and the generally low yields. If one is willing to accept that, however, this downside is balanced by a considerable number of advantages: the bush system protects the grapes from the sun—an enormous benefit in light of previous and future summers. It also reduces evaporation and thus lessens drought stress. Furthermore, the roots—especially in old vines—reach deep into the soil, where they can access additional water, nutrients, and trace elements. And last but not least, the inherently low yield has the advantage that—although one harvests fewer grapes, Luca in our case—they are often more concentrated.
After harvesting, the grapes are brought as quickly as possible to the cellars of Tenuta Saiano, where they are transformed, with the best artisanal craftsmanship, into a highly intriguing, nuanced, and profoundly balanced wine. The maturation takes place over 24 months in large wooden barrels. The wine is neither fined nor filtered.
Technical Sheet
Grape variety: Sangiovese
Vineyard: A mix of sandstone & limestone
Harvest: By hand
Fermentation: Spontaneous | wild yeasts, 3 weeks on the skins
Maturation: 24 months in 15 hl tonneaux
Filtration: None
SO₂: <30 mg/l
Alcohol: 13.5% vol.
Closure: Natural cork
Optimum drinking window: From now – 2035
Volume and price per litre: 0.75 l / (€34.87/l)
All growers listed by Vinonudo work in their vineyards with compost, organic fertiliser, and natural preparations, and refrain from the use of herbicides, pesticides, and synthetic fertiliser.
