Grattamacco L'Alberello Bolgheri Superiore

L'Alberello bottle image

Wine Description

Grattamacco was founded in 1977 and was the second winery of the Bolgheri appellation, following Sassicaia. Grattamacco has lead the region in environmentally responsible farming, and was the first to use an Alberello or head-pruned method in Bolgheri. 

Barrel Samples
Vineyards
Subsoil
Luca Marrone Chief enologist of Grattamacco
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Acclaim
“Grattamacco claims the distinction of having planted the first head-trained alberello vineyard in the Bolgheri area, in the 1970s, and its fruit has produced a long line of wines rated 90+. The 2015 Bolgheri Superiore l'Alberello is among the best I have sampled. The wine opens to harmonious notes of smoke and tar and shows elegant mineral definition with sweet oak spice and lots of rich dark fruit at its core. The blend is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot.”
— Wine Advocate, May 2019
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Vineyard & Production Info
Soil composition
silt soil,browny and red clay
Training method
alberello (sapling) bush vine
Elevation:
165 feet
Exposure:
Various
Year vineyard planted:
2004
Harvest time:
September 23rd-24th
Average Vine Age:
14
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Winemaking & Aging
Maceration length:
21 days
Varietal composition:
70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot
Fermentation container:
conical oak vat
Length of alcoholic fermentation:
15 days
Fermentation temperature:
75-86 °F
Maceration technique:
Punchdown
Malolactic fermentation:
Full
Fining agent:
no fining
Type of aging container:
Barriques
Size of aging container:
225 hl
Type of oak:
French
Length of aging before bottling:
16 months
Age of Aging Container:
50%new oak, 50% second use
Length of bottle aging:
6 months
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Analytical Data
pH level:
3.5
Acidity:
5.9 g/L
Alcohol:
14 %
Dry extract:
34.1 g/L
Residual sugar:
0.6 g/L
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Wine Production

The three varieties are harvested together on the same day, creating a blend that spontaneously ferments in small oak truncated cone vats with manual punching down and long maceration with indigenous yeast. This wine is aged for 16 months in oak barriques prior to bottling.

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About the Vineyard

L'Alberello (head-pruned) is the way the vineyards are trained. It is a vineyard of 2 hectares trained in the traditional “settonce” formation, such that each vine is equidistant from the others surrounding it. This vineyard features mainly clay and is run according to the criteria of organic farming with a maximum production of 1 kg of grapes per vine. Harvesting and other works on the vines are done manually.