Frequently Asked Questions
Cement has been used in winemaking for many years. It is made as a mixture of sand and cement similar to what you use when you lay bricks and paving. Most cement tanks are lined with epoxy resin or beeswax. Most are large and rectangular. Nomblot egg shaped tanks are not lined and so are porous. Ceramic is clay based including sandstone and gres. Mixed, molded and fired in a kiln to around 1200 degrees for a number of days. It is porous and inert.
I think stainless steel is best suited to large production units. Ceramic eggs cannot be made over 700 Litres capacity without a steel frame to re-inforce them because they would collapse. Ceramic is porous. Stainless steel is not. I prefer the concept of oxidation which brings out a more rounded and complex style of wine. Like an oak barrel but no addition of flavours.
At Monterinaldi their Chianti is fermented and stored in large 140 hectare litres cement tanks. Together we taste wine from around 10 tanks and then short list the ones we like. These are retasted 3 months later. At this second tasting we also try blends of the short listed wines. Samples of each blend are subsequently made and retested. A lot of hard work – All this tasting.
My objective is to show the natural flavour of the grape variety. I believe ceramic does this by enriching the colour and flavour through oxidation within an inert environment. Rounder, balanced, fuller flavoured, smoother wines.
Right here on this website! Contact me.
I like to sell direct and engage in direct relationship with drinkers of my wines and people who have an interest in quality wines and how they are made.
I am based near Guildford south east of London and do a number of fairs in that area, particularly at Christmas time. We have introduced two mixed tasting packs of 6 and 12 bottles respectively which can be bought via this website.
Better circulation and mixing of pulp and juice. Wine is a living thing full of different types of molecules which interact to provide colour, flavour, intensity and complexity.
Also due to their porosity you get temperature control as the air cools the wine nearest the skin of the egg.
The easy answer is to say it is better, but that is a judgement. to be made by the taster and we all have different palettes and different tastes that we like or dislike.
2 reasons:
1. It is made differently. I believe ageing in ceramic adds colour and depth of flavour. Producing a rounder silkier fuller bodied wine.
2. I age my wines in bottle for longer before releasing them for sale.
I am a small private producer whose priority is to make top quality wine. Wine which I would drink every day of the year – and I do!
Chianti Classico is Chianti made in the originai wine Production area of Chianti between Florence and Siena in Tuscany cental Italy.
DOCG is the top grade of Italian wine. Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita guaranteed to have been made in accordance with wine making regulations applicable to the area of production which usually include grape varieties and the percentage of each variety allowed, maturation period and method of maturation and time in Oak and release date etc.
To obtain DOCG Chianti Classico you have to send samples to the Consorzio who analyse and taste the wines to ensure they comply with the regulations. Once approved you are entitled to use the black rooster emblem.
The grape composition has changed dramatically over the years since Baron Bettino Ricasolis original recipe in 1872 of 70% Sangiovese, 15 Canaiolo and 15 Malvasia Bianco.
Today, Chianti must be at least 80% Sangiovese and white grapes are no longer allowed but a proportion of intemational grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot can be used. All my Chianti wines are 100% Sangiovese.
Indicazione Geografica Tipica. A wine produced in a certain geographical location with grapes from that region.
Denominazione di Origine Controllata is the most common Italian wine style. Over 300 individual titles and increasing every few months. It signifies a geographical area of production and vines. Samples do not have to be provided and ,frankly, it does not indicate quality.
The straw basket enclosed bottle for which Chianti became famous in 20th Century.
Remember those Italian restaurants with them hanging from the beams and on the tables with candles in them. In fact it became a Fiasco because the bottle cost more than the wine inside and then wine fraud was discovered in the form of adding cheaper wine.
In the 1990s a group of producers led by Antinori wanted to improve the quality of Chianti and to use international grape varieties.
The rules prohibited this wine being called Chianti.
Planting’s of these varieties were made along the coast of Tuscany, an area known as the Maremma.
These wines became very successful and very expensive Sassicaia; Omellaia; Tignanello. But more importantly they did lead to a radical change in the quality of wines made in Chianti. Today the quality monitored strictly by the Consorzio under the chairmanship of Giovanni Manetti of Fontodi is higher than ever before.
The granting of the right to use the Black Rooster and the DOCG status really is an indicator of high quality and good winemaking practices.
I do not make a Super Tuscan. I do make a 100% Merlot in Tuscany. Also a Gran Gran Selezione Chianti which was a new top grade added some 2 or 3 years ago by the Consorzio Chianti Classico. But on purpose I only make 500 bottles so it is a special selection and a different blend from the Classico and Riserva.