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The grounds of Petreto are situated right along the Arno
River and is owned by Alessandro Fonseca (above), who is also director of
the Agricultural Organization of Tuscany.
The estate house dates back to the 11th century, when it was used as a
guardian tower on an ancient road to Florence. The cellar used for aging the
wines in barriques is the original from this age!
Alessandro's family origins from Naples but established on the grounds more
than a century ago. Alessandro's dream was to make excellent wine, but he
found himself in difficulties due to the northern exposition of the
vineyards and the closeness of the Arno River that causes a damp and foggy
climate.
He soon discovered the extraordinary disposition of the area for the
Botrytis, the noble fungus well known in France for the famous Sauternes,
and started experimenting a similar "pourriture noble" wine made with the same grapes (Sauvignon
& Semillon) back in 1990.
In Italy the usage of SO2 is limited (just about 170mg per hectolitre) and
therefore the wine is bound to be different from the French Sauternes, where
more than double is allowed.
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The grapes are left on the vines until almost dark grey of
the fungus and are then selected and hand picked when
nobly decayed. The
leafs of the vines, in the mean while, are removed to make sure that the
dampness of the night that helps the fungus grow disappears during the day
to avoid damage of the grapes. Indeed, a very difficult and delicate wine to
make.
Wines produced:
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Pourriture Noble igt
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"Bocciole'" Merlot igt
Every year Alessandro puts away bottles of the Pourriture
Noble to make a little history cellar of the Estate.
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