Wine CHALET
The winery is located in Canneto Pavese, Lombardy, Italy, at the foot of our hill. It is equipped with everything necessary for the vinification, aging, bottling and maturation of our wines. We focus on reducing energy consumption and limiting emissions; obtaining the Certificate of Energy Sustainability; we insulated the cellar, optimized production processes and sources of supply.
Our wine is a craft wine and derives from working methods aimed at obtaining the maximum from the grapes, but which exclude manipulations by man and the absence of chemical additives (except for small quantities of potassium metabisulphite). Our artisanal vinification involves long stops on yeast deposits to enrich the aromatic background of the wine and therefore we need grapes with characteristics that only our vineyards and its microclimate are able to give.
Equipments
The tanks and equipment that come into contact with the wines are made of stainless steel. For the maturation of some of the red wines, we use French and American used oak barrels, one, two and three vintages old. The winemaking and cellar rooms are equipped with temperature and humidity regulation.
Respect for grapes
The grapes are harvested at the perfect moment of ripeness for the desidered type of wine. Usually only me and my mom perform harvest and strictly by hand in boxes. We select and gently pick only the best grapes and bring perfectly intact clusters to the crusher. Since the winery is at the foot of the vineyard, we don’t need to move furthermore the grapes, keeping the quality.
Winemaking
The white grapes for sparkling Riesling are immediately pressed and slightly cooled if necessary. After sedimentation we separate the early lees and fermentation begins at low temperature, to preserve the freshness and fragrance of the wine. For red grapes and Malvasia, the process is different. We crush and left the grapes to macerate for several weeks to extract body, substance and aromas. The small size of the tanks helps the dispersion of heat and eases temperature control. During the fermentation we carry out delicate pumping over or punching down. In this way, the wine can acquire only the noble substances from the skins.
Maceration
The duration of maceration varies between 7 and over 30 days depending on the wine to be obtained and the course of the growing season. In any case, effective length is evaluated according to the vintage specificity, the fermentation process and the evolution of the tannic structure of the wines. However, it continues until the skins can release noble substances. Towards the end of the maceration, we close the tanks to preserve wine from oxidation. At the end of the maceration period, the juice is drawn off and we slightly press the skins. Than the malolactic retrogradation takes place.
Aging
From here on, it is necessary to wait for the cold season, winter helps the wine to settle the solids present and to acquire transparency and brilliance, as well as softness and finesse. Aging of the wines is always on the fine lees, to improve complexity and stability in a natural way and to keep intact all the unique characteristics that the vineyard gives to the grapes.
Cellaring
Our wines are very pleasant and complex, of extraordinary intensity and are suitable for long aging in bottle. We thank the characteristics of stability and longevity deriving from the soil of origin, the long fermentation and the aging technique used, both for the reds and for whites. These wines can have lees in the bottle, which does not alter, but rather enhances, their characteristics. If stored in the right conditions the wines improve continuously, refining over time like all great wines.
