ROSSO DI TOSCANA IGT “SEMEL” 750ml Merlot 100%

The Wineyard

Our vineyards cover a total of 25 hectares and are located at an altitude of 150-200 meters above sea level.
The vines cultivated are Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Canaiolo Nero, Trebbiano Toscano and Chardonnay: we used the typical Tuscan training system called "cordone speronato" (for some plots the "archetto toscano") and the guyot for the Trebbiano. The current production is about 60,000 bottles: we are following a plan which will lead us, in the next years, to bring the production
to full capacity, therefore doubling the current one.

The Montalbano Terroir

The terroir of Montalbano is suited to viticulture since ancient times, just think that the first traces of it date back to
Etruscan and Roman times: it seems that Caesar had assigned to some veterans
some lands between Ombrone and Arno rivers, and then there is a parchment of 804 in archives of Florence which there are lease contracts of vineyards and olives in the area. There also exists a very important documentation that shows how the grape called in local dialect as "uva francesca" or “uva francesa” -that is the Cabernet Sauvignon grape- was cultivated since the
1500s, imported by Caterina de' Medici. There is also a chart by Leonardo da Vinci dated back to 1503 which mapped the area of Montalbano including the territory from Artimino to Monsummano. This fascinating history is accompanied by an oenological peculiarity, as the wines here are produced in a particular enclave: the vicinity of the Apennine mountains on one side, which in fact favors a diurnal temperature range, an on the other hand a subsoil
characterized by red clay which gives the wine good minerality and intense color.

Production Philosophy

Guido and Gherardo Betti's work has always been oriented towards the highest quality, both in the vineyard and in the cellar.
The basic intention is to constantly enhance the innate characteristics of the wines of the territory - finesse and liveliness in the first place -without
any forcing, but simply accompanying a soil that was already born perfect. The
cultivation includes partial grassing and organic fertilizers (for example the plants of favette cut and buried at the time of flowering release nitrogen into
the soil) and an attitude of interventionism only when it is really needed, without any forcing. Harvesting is partly manual and partly mechanical,
depending on the plots.

Guido and Gherardo therefore consider themselves as
custodians of a marvelous territory, which they have the duty to defend without
distorting it: in their thinking, modern technologies and everything that involves innovation is absolutely looked upon with great favor, as long as it is aimed at guaranteeing a production in which every single bottle expresses
personality and genuineness.