The 2020 Vintage
On September 18th we go outside early in the morning and head for the vineyards. It’s already hot. When we get there rows of bare black fruit are being whipped by a hot southerly wind that is keeping the summer hanging on the valley. I search for taste in my first berries of merlot of the year, and I can’t find much: the fruit is just sugary and flat. The wind gets violent and on the 30th in some areas there are clusters of fruit that are starting to shrivel; I call off the team that had been taking off foliage to expose the grapes to a fresher kind of weather. The next day the wind gets deafening and explodes into a wall of rain; it starts falling white and silent on the sea of vines for the next three days. When it stops the air has turned cold and I realized that the season has finally broken. I wait a little for the berries to dry, go back inside the vines again to taste and this time I find some significant aromas.
People come up from the winery and we stand in the vineyards savouring the berries, surrounded with the precise colors of fall. It’s the 26th and, very much on schedule for merlot, we are now picking lots of good fruit. It is again time for the cellar to get busy and take charge of the wagons of grapes coming in. They move quickly and expertly and take in the wall of grapes which they discern and separate into the numerous tanks, each one with different-tasting must: generally, these loads of merlot have a rich taste because they have been overcoated with the fresh fruit of cold weather covering over the earlier effect of drought and hard heat; they have in the end been restored by generous rains. Our cabernet franc is not affected by these changes of the weather; rain falls sparsely and often in the light of the sun from rushing skies up until the 6th of October; that water might take off some concentration from grapes hanging in the larger yards on the plain; when picking these we include in the tanks to ferment together some large tracts of not not-yet-ripe cabernet sauvignon that will add edge to the cabernet franc; I like to ferment different kinds of fruit together when I can. The season keeps wet, then it clears miraculously on October 6-10, which is when we are able to go to the precious parcels that are crucial for the estate: they can make or break a vintage because of saving or losing their gorgeous quality at harvest.
We bring those grapes home, too. In this rainy year the berries show a brilliant and intrepid sort of ripeness because of the long heath, then the cold rains, and, in the end, the final bursts of sunlight. While we tend the tanks of our 2019 wines, we often guess on what these of 2020 will be like when we open the barrels, next February.
The Latest Press and Guides
INTERNATIONAL PRESS
Wine Spectator: Campo di Tenaglia 2017 is reviewed in “The power of Tuscany”, where is recommended as a ”Top Wine” by Bruce Sanderson.
See all the review here. Wine Spectator 2017 Trinoro
Vinous.com: Antonio Galloni rates Tenuta di Trinoro 2018 97points.
The Wine Advocate: After including Tenuta di Trinoro 2017 in “The Decameron: 100 wines for Quarantine” (RobertParker), Monica Larner reviews also Trinoro 2018 vintage wines and rates Tenuta di Trinoro 2018 98+ point. ”This dark, full, concentrated red blend show a good amount of the power and the ripe, fruit – forward appeal that I associate with the wines made from those golden years from 2001 to 2007. There is a beautiful fullness and opulence here that wraps thickly over the palate with blackberry, rum cake , charred meat and black licorice. This blend of 59% Cabernet Franc and 41% Merlot offers up aromas of spice, mahogany, and some of grilled herbs or rosemary tha you would associate with Cabernet. The finish is super long and rich, with elegant tannins and lasting fruit momentum. Despite that sightly retro or nostalgic fruit-throttle bouquet that I described above, the mouthfeel is more tapered, fine and ethereal that you might expect. Some 7,000 bottles were made. You get all sorts of surprises from this beautiful, soulful wine.”
Decanter: In the #storiedivino tasting Aldo Fiordelli rates Tenuta di Trinoro 2018 (97points) “The leaner character of the 2018 matched with the concentrated style of Trinoro <…> give to this wine a unique balance”, Palazzi 2018 (95points) and Campi di Magnacosta 2018 (95points).
ITALIAN GUIDES
La Guida Essenziale ai vini d’Italia 2021: both Tenuta di Trinoro and Palazzi 2018 are awarded with ‘’Il Faccino di DoctorWine”, while Palazzi 2018 gets listed as ”The best wine from Merlot”.
Gambero Rosso 2021: Campo di Camagi 2018 received “TRE BICCHIERI”.
Slow Wine 2021: Trinoro 2018 Vintage review.
La Guida Oro I Vini di Veronelli 2021: Campo di Camagi 2018 and Tenuta di Trinoro 2017 received “TRE STELLE ORO”.
Bibenda 2021: Campo di Magnacosta 2018 and Tenuta di Trinoro 2018 have been awarded with “5 GRAPPOLI”.
Guida Vitae 2021: awards Campo di Camagi 2018 with ”QUATTRO VITI”.
The Wine Hunter Award: Tenuta Di Trinoro 2018 is in the ”TOP 100 LIST” with the award GOLD.