Tenuta di Trinoro 2007
The winter of 2007 at Trinoro was strangely warm and rainless, we watched the dry ditches and diminishing springs until April. In May the season came uncertainly, with showers and cold spells that brought irregular budding, uneven flowering and scarce settings; at the beginning of July berries still had unusual differences in size, but the vines were racing ahead, sensing the dry soil; when the summer fell to cooler nights in early September the vineyards were presenting us with grapes that looked convincingly, beautifully ripe. Most Tuscan wine producers started harvesting, but at Trinoro we thought the grapes light and still tasting very closed. At dawn on the 15th we sprayed the skies over the vineyard with a mist of water, and repeated this everyday for a week; we let the moon run another full cycle; and finally picked, our first Merlot coming in at the beginning of October. Cabernet Franc followed in the middle, Cabernet Sauvignon with Petit Verdot at the end of the month.
2007 was a vintage where wines from late-ripening fruit like Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot came out on top, because they could live longer to the dew of autumn mornings. Musts in the vats had very little juice – the pumps would sometimes fail for lack of liquid in the mass which, pushed, made a sound like wicker. After fermentation the wines looked black and impenetrable for months before they started deepening. In April they were showing a kind of fruit and tannin the like of which we have never seen before. There is no doubt that this vintage’s wine will be peaking for many years.
Vineyard age: 10-15 years
Vineyard density: 10,000 vines/Ha
Vineyard altitude: 450-600 m asl
Yield per hectare: 21 Hl/Ha
Fertilization: None
Spraying: Clay, propolis, grapefruit seed extract
Vinification: Alcoholic fermentation for 12-16 days in 40 Hl stainless steel vats
Aging: Malolactic fermentation and aging for 6 months in new French oak barriques, then racked into cement vats
Production: 9,600 bottles
REVIEWS
Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media, 95 points: “The estate’s Grand Vin, the 2007 Tenuta di Trinoro, is shaping up to be one of the vintage’s finest successes. A dark, richly-textured wine, the 2007 Tenuta boasts a seamless core of ripe fruit that flows all the way through to the long finish. This super-ripe, explosive wine offers spectacular density and richness in a full-bodied, immensely rewarding style. Hints of new leather, spices, grilled herbs and minerals linger on the sublime close. In 2007 Tenuta di Trinoro is 35% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation in oak (which was long that year), where it spent 8 months prior to finishing its aging in cement. The shorter oak-aging regime Franchetti has employed over the last few years seems to be resulting in more elegant and deeply expressive wines than was the case in the past. The 2007 Tenuta was lightly fined but not filtered prior to being bottled. (Drink 2013 – 2027).”
Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate, 94 points: “The 2007 Tenuta di Trinoro delivers impressive results despite the challenging, drought-driven growing season. Andrea Franchetti remembers walking through the vineyards and hearing the crackling sound of leaves as they disintegrated in the dry weather. Under those conditions, it’s not hard to imagine the dark berry concentration, textural density and general ripeness on display in this wine. This edition sees Cabernet Franc in the driver’s seat (at 55% of the blend) because, as Franchetti puts it, ‘Cabernet Franc ripens on a sweet side, not a sour side.’ The wine is fleshy, opulent and packed tight with blackberry preserves, cherry compote, spice, leather and grilled herb. The tannins are dry and polished, but they make a great contrast against the sweetness of the wine’s berry flavors. (Drink 2015 – 2026).”
BLEND
40% Cabernet Franc
30% Merlot
20% Cabernet Sauvignon
10% Petit Verdot
