Vittorio Innocenti Acerone Rosso Toscano IGT 2018

This is a pre-arrival offering that is expected fall 2026. Please order these Innocenti wines separately from the wines of other producers and separately from in-stock Innocenti wines. The minimum order is 3 bottles - mix or match. Our tasting impressions Bottled just weeks before we tasted and already apparent that this is a great vintage of Vittorio's favorite wine. Acerone is one for laying down, and the 2018 is not exception given its significant tannic structure. But, we wouldn't blame you if drank it young. The fruit is vivid and pure and the overall impression of this wine is freshness. Already, it's astoundingly complex. Let your trophy-hunting friends chase labels. With this in your cellar, you will know that you have one of the great Tuscan treasures that few people even know about. Lucky you! About this wine IGT stands for Indicazione Geografica Tipica. Technically, it is the humblest designation for Italian wines. In Tuscany, IGT was in the spotlight when producers, who were railing against the constraints of the DOC system, introduced Super Tuscans. Named for an eastern-facing single vineyard in Montefollonico, this Rosso Toscano is made only in the best vintages and uses Innocenti's best hand-harvested Sangiovese grapes from a single vineyard (named Acerone) planted in the 1940's directly behind the farmhouse in which Vittorio grew up. The elevation is about 350 meters and the soil is clay. It is the only wine they make entirely from Sangiovese and only in the best vintages. The grapes are de-stemmed (Innocenti considers Sangiovese tannins too green to do whole cluster) and gently crushed. Fermentation is with natural yeasts and maceration on the skins lasts 15 days. They perform délestage (draining the wine off the must and then gently pumping it back over. The caps are punched down. Aged in old oak barrels for 5 years. It is bottled with a wide-grain filter and left to rest in the cellar a few more years prior to release. It is Vittorio's favorite among his wines. About the grape Sangiovese is the most planted grape in Italy and is the dominant grape throughout the central part of the country. There are many variants and even different names like Prugnolo Gentile, Brunello, Sangioveto and Morellino. The grapes are dark and thick-skinned, slow-ripening, acidic and tannic. Like Pinot Noir, Sangiovese is heavily influenced by its terroir and similarly can be quite transparent in its differences from place to place. Traditionally, Sangiovese-based wines (except in Montalcino) have other grapes mixed in, but in recent history there have been many successful wines produced from 100% Sangiovese. So, today, they are quite common. Innocenti's vintage report 2018 was a season of balance from start to finish. A wet winter and spring replenished the soil after the previous year's drought, and mild conditions through spring kept the vines growing steadily. Then came a warm, dry summer, tempered by cool September nights, exactly the kind of slow, even ripening we look for. Nothing in the vineyard was left to chance: every bunch was picked by hand, and only fruit that was fully healthy and perfectly ripe made it into the cellar. The result is a vintage of real finesse, fresh red fruit, floral lift, bright acidity holding it all together, and tannins that feel almost silky.