2018 Nicolò Grippaldi Nerello Mascalese 'Spinasanta'

Sicily, Italy

100% Nerello Mascalese from the town of Gagliano Castelferrato, 651m above sea level. Fermentation and ageing in concrete vats of 25hl, at increasingly longer intervals, in the descending moon day of flowers, Niccolò carries out the remuage for each individual bottle.

This small young vibrant university graduate fulfilled his lifelong dream in planting his first vines in 2015.  All operations are carried out by himself, manually, including the removal of each individual vine, each operation is related to an astronomical lunar calendar, and in two phases of the year he dynamizes a biodynamic preparation called 500 based on manure and medicinal herbs, while in pre-harvest he carries out another preparation called 501 based on quartz.

The operations in the cellar are totally related to a lunar astronomical calendar and the analytical parameters of must and grapes are not modified.The grapes must arrive perfectly healthy and with excellent analytical parameters of maturation, he only uses low doses of sulphur dioxide around 2g per hl, very low!

"In the cellar, fermentation starts spontaneously without any addition of inoculums or additives, I make open pumping over and manual punching down every 4 hours or so throughout the alcoholic fermentation and gradually lengthen the time of punching over and pumping over in post-fermentation maceration until the end of spontaneous malolactic (if it decides to do so of course), on the skins, having a constant temperature in the cellar of about 20 degrees. The grapes were left in pre-fermentative maceration for 2 days and once the alcoholic fermentation was completed, there was a post-fermentative maceration of about a month. Once the wine was drawn off, it remained on the fine lees with continuous batonnage until June, after which it was put on the clean lees and bottled in August 2019 and has remained in the glass until today."

Fermentation and ageing in concrete vats of 25hl, at increasingly longer intervals, in the descending moon day of flowers, Niccolò carries out the remuage for each individual bottle.

94 points, James Suckling. "Very elegant and refined with balance and freshness. Delicate, silky tannins give form and length to the wine. Medium-bodied with berry, walnut and pumice character. Pretty finish with graphite and earth. Drink now or hold."