The long road to quality, begun at the beginning of the Eighties by Castello di Ama, lead to the creation, in 1996, of a great Chianti Classico by the same name, which aspires to being one of the best red wines from one of the most famous wine regions in the world.
2003 was a year of low productivity especially for Sangiovese, Pinot Nero and Chardonnay.
In some areas losses due to frost, together with the small size of the grapes due to a lack of rain, meant up to a 50% reduction in yield. But for those who were not fooled, and who knew how to wait, the year’s production gave rich, full-bodied, deep-flavoured Chianti Classico wines: in other words it was a great year for a great “Castello di Ama”.
Thanks to his splendid work in the vineyards and wine-cellars, 2003 was also the year of the crowning of Marco Pallanti as best oenologist of the year - according to the wine guide Vini d’Italia (Wines of Italy).
“Castello di Ama” comes from 63 hectares of specialised vines (listed in the Chianti Classico DOCG register of vineyards), which grow at an altitude of between 390 and 530 metres above sea-level in gravely, calcareous, clay soil. The planting was done between 1964 and 1978 with an average of 3,000 plants per hectare. The vines are trained in a vertical and open Lyre system of trellising with Guyot pruning. The varieties of vines grafted onto 420 A and Kober 5BB rootstocks are: Sangiovese 80%, Canaiolo 8%, Malvasia Nera and Merlot 12%.
Approximately 175 tonnes of grapes were picked to make the Castello di Ama 2003 wine. The grapes were picked between the 17th and the 30th September, which was earlier than is usual, after a careful check on their phenol maturity had been made. The grapes were carefully selected in the vineyard and again at the sorting table. They were then pressed and destemmed. The grape must was chilled and then fermented in steel vats at a temperature not exceeding 33°C. The pump-overs in the vats were particularly gentle and the maceration period lasted for 25/26 days. After the drawing off process the approximately 1,150 hectolitres of wine underwent malolactic fermentation - for the most part en barriques.
After the malolactic fermentation stage the blend was assembled and all the wine put into barriques to age: 30% of the barrels are new and the rest between 1 and 3 years old.
The bottling produced 13,000 standard half bottles, 140,000 standard bottles, 3,000 magnums and 300 double magnums.
Analytical data
Total acidity: 5.25 g/l
Alcohol: 13.69%
Volatile acidity: 0.55 g/l
Dry extract: 32.1g/l
pH: 3.50 U.V. 280: 70.0
