Few wine brands in the world can boast a history of over seven centuries, like the one that belongs to the Frescobaldi family, one of the most illustrious standard-bearer of the made in Italy wine in the world. The Frescobaldis, in fact, are a family whose first exponents moved from the Val di Pesa, where they owned land including the estate of Castiglioni (their oldest agricultural property), to Florence around the year 1000. Since then, the bond between the family and this city has remained constant, with the lodge, the tower and the palace of this family, built in the homonymous Piazza de’ Frescobaldi, to witness the unchanged presence over the centuries.
To understand what this brand means at a global level today, it is necessary to start from an aspect more closely related to viticulture, that of the decision, in the middle of 1800, to introduce the cultivation of varietals until then unknown in Tuscany: Carbernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and Sauvignon. Roots firmly Tuscan and production that looks to tradition but also to the international vocation, these could be the two parallel directions in which the brand Frescobaldi develops itself, with Vittorio, Ferdinando and Leonardo, in the 20th century, and Lamberto, currently engaged in defining the uniqueness of each of the individual estates owned, and their wines. Lamberto, however, is also the man who has definitively introduced the principles of Integrated and sustainable agriculture in all estates, in addition to adopting renewable photovoltaic energy in all estates, and a whole range of measures to reduce environmental pollution and CO2 dispersion.
Among the estates owned by the family is that of Pomino, whose enological vocation is attested by documents dating back to the 16th century, and inserted by Cosimo III de’ Medici in his famous 1716 ploclamation, in which were enshrined the four Tuscan territories most suited to viticulture (Carmignano, Chianti, Pomino and Val d’Arno). Among this estate wines it is almost obligatory to mention the Benifizio Pomino Riserva, a 100% Chardonnay that grows on land at 700 meters above sea level, on sandy soils rich in skeleton. After a first selection during the harvest (manual in wooden crates), the grapes arrive in the cellar where they are pressed with extreme delicacy and then left to settle at cool temperature. The must is then poured into barrique where it carries out alcoholic fermentation and, in part, malolactic fermentation, before the aging of 10 months, always in small cask, on the lees, with batonnage as needed. A short period of aging in the bottle and the wine is ready for marketing.
The 2016 vintage shows an intense straw-yellow color, with golden shades, and with an olfactory fan that opens on notes of dried apricot, peach in syrup, mango and chestnut honey, followed by candied cedar, kumquat, croissant and wet flint, with final echoes of combusted shell and carpentry. The palate combines softness with balsamic freshness, with a pleasant savory/ mineral component and a hint of white pepper; all enriched by the return of the yellow fruit and shell that accompany the sip to a large and long finish.
Rating: 89/100
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