SHIPPING ONLY TO THE EUROPEAN UNION! 2009 Tenute Guicciardini Strozzi Fattoria di Cusona Sodole Toscana IGT Sangiovese 100% This wine, which has been in production since 1983, is named after one part of the Cusona Estate situated in the heart of it, and is produced only in the best years using the finest selectionsof Sangiovese grown on the land. Vinified with long maceration on skins, it matures for 12 months in French oak barriques and undergoes over a year’s bottle ageing. The label depicts the politician and historian Francesco Guicciardini. Sòdole, a great red wine of high prestige and great class, is made from 100% Sangiovese grapes, carefully selected from old vineyards with very low yields (maximum 60 quintals of grapes per hectare), favouring old varieties that give sparse, small berries, to the benefit of quality. Colour: deep ruby red with slight garnet highlights. Perfume: pleasant scents of violet and berries, with the slight spiciness of wood. Flavour: full bodied, with enveloping and textured tannins. Fine and elegant aftertaste. Vinification takes place in small vessels, with long maceration of the skins (approximately 10-12 days), daily pumping over and punching down. At the end of the alcoholic fermentation, the development of the second fermentation (malolactic) is encouraged until the malic acid is completely exhausted. Once this process is also completed, the wine is placed in 225-litre barrels of fine French oak, where it spends a long period (about 10 months) during which it acquires the desired degree of maturation, an intense bouquet and a particular body that allows for prolonged ageing. After bottling, the Sodole is stored in the winery's underground cellars, which are equipped with natural and constant temperature and humidity particularly suitable for this type of ageing, for about a year before release. Analitical data: 13% Ageing: Suitable for long ageing: 10 - 15 years. Temperature and method of service 18 - 19° C Combinations: A 'meditation' wine. particularly suitable with red meat dishes, game, stews and braised meats, mature cheeses. *************************************** 2009 Vintage - Tuscany Current condition: Ready to drink, will keep A cold, snowy winter was beneficial for the vines' recuperation. A wet spring replenished the water table in the soils which proved vital as a long hot, dry summer loomed. Balmy conditions late spring prompted an early flowering and then a scorching summer ensued. An arid August saw an intense heat spike and drought became a concern. The region of Maremma particularly suffered while Chianti Classico, Chianti Rufina and Valdarno tended to be a little cooler. The long sunny days continued, and September and October were blessed with an Indian summer. The ideal conditions allowed for an early, leisurely harvest. Many of the resulting wines were tremendous. The best examples tended to come from cooler sites and displayed excellent structure while gaining the intense fruit character that comes from a hot summer. Sangiovese was extremely good with bright red aromatic fruit and zippy acidity. The biggest problems producers faced were with dehydrated or overcooked grapes. Overall, Tuscany enjoyed a great year and a wide range of wines were produced that should still be drinking well now. The very best are likely able to cellar even further. ******************************************************************************************************************* Tenute Guicciardini Strozzi is a historic Italian wine producer with vineyard sites both throughout Tuscany and on the Island of Pantelleria, midway between the southwest coast of Sicily and Tunisia. The flagship 530-hectare (1340-acre) Tenuta Villa Cusona estate dates back to 994 AD and is situated near the town of San Gimignano. This is the birthplace of Tenute Guicciardini Strozzi's most iconic wine, its Vernaccia di San Gimignano – reputedly first produced in 1200. The Strozzi-Guicciardini family has been one of the most prominent noble families in Tuscany since the 15th Century, playing major roles in the political and economic landscape of not only Tuscany, but in Italy and in wider Europe. Today, Guicciardini Strozzi is a family business, managed by Prince Girolamo Strozzi and his wife Irina with their two daughters, Natalia and Irina Jr. The vineyards at Tenuta Villa Cusona in San Gimagnano are planted to white grape varieties including Vernaccia, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, as well as red grape varieties like Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Alongside the flagship Vernaccia di San Gimignano wine, Strozzi also produces equally notable red wines including Sodole, made from 100 percent Sangiovese, and Millanni, a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. On top of Villa Cusona, Guicciardini Strozzi holds a number of other estates. The Poggio Moreto holding was purchased in 1998 and is dedicated to the production of Morellino di Scansano wine. A year later, Villa Le Pavoniere in Bolgheri was added to the portfolio and consists of plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah. Tenuta I Massi, in Massa Marittima – also on the Tuscan coast – was purchased in 2000, and four years later the company expanded into Sicilian winemaking with the acquisition of Coste di Kuddia on Pantelleria, along with its Moscato d'Alessandria vineyards.