I wanted to include some examples
of wineries in my post last week on the use of cement in winemaking in Italy,
but Italians are very hard at work harvesting this time of year or getting
ready for the harvest and were delaying in providing some information. Today, I have two examples of producers that
are using cement in their winemaking, Poliziano and Fabrizio Dionisio.
Earlier this summer I wrote my top 5 winery
recommendations in Tuscany for
Robert Dwyer of the Wellesley Wine
Press with Poliziano being one of
the features of the article. David, the
export manager of Poliziano, provided me with information as to why there is
the use of cement at Poliziano. Cement
is an Italian technique used in different years. The best quality and fundamentals of this
technique include:
- constant temperature control
- good percentage of gas exchange
- permeability
- neutral organoleptics
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| Cement tanks of Poliziano |
Thermal inertia or constant thermal
control facilitate the post-processing of alcoholic fermentation. The must isn't subject to thermal stress in
cement, therefore, it can mature and deposit in natural ways the dregs.
In regards to the gas exchange and
permeability, with the cement being porous it permeates a majority exchange of
oxygen in respect to stainless steel, which is useful for the life of the
yeast.
The neutral organoleptics is given
to the fact that the cement is a lot more easier to clean in comparison to
antique barrels. This reduces a lot of
the risk of unwelcome bacteria during fermentation.
In a previous blog
on the wines from Fabrizio
Dionisio in Cortona, Tuscany I discussed that they use cement vats in
producing their Syrah named “Il Castagnino”.
Their cement vats are glass lined.
Il Castagnino was produced to experiment with the Syrah grape and
showcase Syrah in different styles in comparison to their flagship wine, Il
Castagno, that has won a number of awards.
The Castagnino itself has also won awards receiving a 91/100 from James
Suckling and 87/100 from Wine Enthusiast.
Fabrizio Dionisio uses cement to produce a wine that is young and that
exalts freshness and acidity where the smells and tastes aren’t masked by the
aging in wood. The Il Castagnino is always
released the year following the vintage.
For example, the 2014 that they are harvesting now will be released in
April 2015. After the vinification in
stainless steel, they leave it in cement for some months for the final assembly
of the wine and to give it stability. On
a recent visit the partners of my company visited Fabrizio Dionisio and
provided some great pictures of the cement vats to demonstrate what the wines
are aged in.
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| Cement vat at Fabrizio Dionisio |
What wineries have you been to or tasted at that used cement?
Visit wineries throughout Italy with this detailed map.
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