Whoever says Federico Staderini immediately thinks of one of Brunello di Montalcino's hyper stars, Poggio di Sotto. Internationally no price seems too high for this Tuscan giant, with which this sangiovese from Italy beats the majority of the Cru's Classé's from Bordeaux.
But the modest Staderini, an agronomist & oenologist, also went in search of special 'terroirs' within Tuscany where he could realize his pinot noir dream. He found the ultimate spot high in the hills on the east side of Tuscany, north of Arezzo and about an hour east of Florence. Near the hamlet of Pratovecchio, he found the right soil and exposition to plant the noble pinot noir. The project started in 2003 with the planting of the rare grape abrostine. In 2004 the first pinot noir vines went into the calcareous clay soil.
The entire surface is only a modest 4.5 hectares. Frederico cultivates everything biodynamically and only uses the yeasts naturally occurring on the grape during fermentation. The picked fruit is still trod here in the traditional way with bare feet.
The harvest lasts on average from the beginning of September to the beginning of October, 75 to 80% of the grapes picked early are stripped of their stems. 90% of the last harvested grapes enter the fermentation vats as complete bunches. Both in the vineyard and later in the cellar, the grapes undergo rigorous quality control. During fermentation, the supernatant skins are pressed down into the fermenting juice. This technique is called 'pigeage'. For the fermentation he uses cement and old oak vats or conical cuves made of chestnut wood. The first fruit ferments for 15 to 17 days on average while the last harvested fruit takes 22 to 24 days. Following fermentation, the wines are typically aged for 20 months in used Burgundy French oak barrels. This is followed by aging in bottle for at least 12 months before the wine is sold.
These handcrafted wines fall under the I.G.T. Tuscany and are among the rarer quality wines of Italy and are only available in modest quantities every year.