
The
wine-making process begins through a machine
separating grapes from stalks without compressing
bunches. Grapes are slowly pumped into the
vinificators by an innovative
helipump.
The real vinification process stars now: the must with the skins begin their
slow controlled temperature fermentation.
During the first 48 hours, frequent brief
pumpings of the must over the pomace are carried out, by the automatic
vinification system in order to keep the skins constantly well submerged.
In full fermentation the pumping lasts longer and open cycle to oxygenate the must.
Every 1-2 days the must is drawn out and kept for few minutes separated from the pomace, which at the same time is broken down and
crumbled by the system of bars set within the vinificators.
The fermenting must of
Primitivo is kept in contact with the skins on controlled temperature even for 10 days.
For
Greco this phase lasts just one day.
After this phase all
the must is drawn out definitively to complete its
slow final fermentation,
within controlled temperature tanks, called "
fermentini", before becoming wine.
In the meanwhile the grape-skins are unloaded and pushed in an
air-press machine, which extracts their residual
juice through a
soft pressing, without compressing the grape-stones, containing too much aggressive tannins.
The different masses of must in fermentation are constantly monitored from this moment by chemical analysis to choose the kind of
ripening to subject them.
The
vinification is completed
racking the must: the first transfer is carried out
during the fermentation
to complete the process with clean product.
From the end of fermentation process until the Spring, three transfers
are carried out to eliminate the dregs.
In addition to the temperature control system in the "
vinificators", an
air conditioning system keeps the
temperature inside the cellar constant at about 20°C. In this conditions, the masses of wine, begin their
ripening
process in
inox steel tanks and the
ageing process of Primitivo in
Slavonic oak casks,
where they are
free fall transferred and constantly monitored by organoleptic and laboratory analysis.
Excavated in the rock in a good visible way, to a depth of 3 metres, equipped with
dehumidification
systems, we have the "
casks premises" furnished with the
750 litres oak barrels,
where our Primitivo remains only for some months to receive just a touch of smoothness
without covering and
standardizing its rich, imposing, complex and characteristics personality.
In the rock wall, it's possible to admire some
niches that preserve the historical museum of our production year by year.
To make as comfortable as possible our work and the wine ripening, our cellar is provided with
UV-C lamps to sterilize
environments, equipments and the air constantly moved by a
ventilation system.
The sign of our extreme devotion to this our fruit is made perfectly clear by the
presence within our cellar of a stereo,
which diffuses, on different times in the course of the day,
soft new age and symphonic music enriched with sounds of Nature
(wind, rain, chirping of birds …), according to idea that those
soft vibrations improve the activity of the
enzymes supporting the growth of the wine.
Matured with any care and attention our wine is at last ready to the bottle, to its debut, but there is not the finishing touch to make
it impeccable:
the bottling, conducted by using very refined technologies, from
the refrigerator for tartaric
precipitation to
the screw-pump softly transferring wine into the
bottling machine, equipped
of a
system producing vacuum and inserting inert gas before
filling and corking the bottles.