A proprietary cellar for our wines
A private cellar for our wines: a dream that has come true
When we started our wine production project at Podere Conca we didn't yet have in mind to equip ourselves with a cellar owned. We have in fact started to vinify the first three vintages of our red Agapanto, a Bolgheri DOC, and our white Elleboro, an IGT Toscana, at a cellar of the area.
Today, driving along the provincial road that leads from Donoratico to Castagneto Carducci, you can see the new large colored sign that has recently appeared on a warehouse on your right. The sign reads: Wine Shop Podere Conca, and indicates the space open to the public of our new cellar .
After all the effort, care and love we have put into our vines, it seemed to us that our grapes deserved to have a home of their own. And we embarked on the creation of our new cellar .
Build a cellar It is not a trivial thing. First of all, you need to have a clear idea of what type of wine you want to produce in order to choose the most suitable containers in which to mature and age it.
For the vinification we have chosen steel tanks and concrete tanks, while for the refinement we have decided that it will be done in more or less small oak containers, barriques or tonneaux.
We believe that concrete is a material in which our Cabernet Franc can ferment best. We have therefore chosen for our cellar the Tulipes, elongated tanks that we bravely painted in fiery red. Red is the color of the shutters of Podere Conca, the center and soul of the company, and also characterizes the graphics of our logo: it has become for us a real “fil rouge” that influences our color choices.
These tulips undoubtedly bring a touch of personality and elegance to the interior of the cellar.
After a long maceration of the must in contact with the skins, our wines are racked into barriques. The barriques we have chosen to use are of different passages and medium toasting, this means that some are new, others are one year old, others two or three years old, after which they are disposed of.
In this way, every year we buy a small batch of barriques that will gradually replace the older ones. Furthermore, this operation has an important aromatic advantage: the new wood is always mediated by other older ones, which therefore release fewer tertiary substances, so that the wood does not overwhelm the essence of the wine but enhances its aromas and structure.
The red Agapanto Bolgheri DOC rests in barriques for 12 months in a local cellar where temperature and humidity are controlled to be maintained at optimal levels.
During this year of refinement, we check that everything is proceeding regularly through periodic tastings of the wine and when we decide that it has reached the aromatic balance, we bottle Agapanto and let it rest for a few more months in the bottle before presenting it to the press and the public.
by Silvia Cirri and Linda Franceschi