Ippolito 1845 Cirò Colli del Mancuso Rosso Riserva 2021

The native Gaglioppo grapes are grown in the Mancuso estate, an historic single vineyard located in the heart of the hilly, luscious and fertile Cirò area. The vineyard is situated at an altitude of around 350 metres above sea level, where the influence of the sea breezes has a balancing effect on the warm climate and promotes a slow, gradual ripening, ideal for this medium to late ripening variety. The vine training system is ‘Alberello’ which is an ancient bush method which dates back to the ancient Greeks. With just a few bunches per vine, this method encourages the vines to produce grapes with high concentration, ideal for rich and long lasting wines. However, this type of training method requires manual cultivation as mechanisation is difficult, so all processes from pruning through to harvest are performed manually. The vines are cultivated organically with copper, sulphur and bacillus, rather than chemical sprays and mechanical weeding takes place to prevent soil erosion and to protect the biodiversity of the vineyard. The grapes are left to mature on the vine until the beginning of October, when they are hand-harvested at optimal ripeness.

The grapes were carefully selected and underwent a long skin-contact maceration of approximately two weeks to extract the colour, flavour and aromas. Fermentation took place with selected yeasts at controlled temperatures in stainless steel tanks to ensure the purity of fruit was captured. Following gentle pressing the wine was aged in oak tonneaux of third or fourth passage for around 15 months. This wine was the first single vineyard wine to be produced in Calabria.