Features
Name:
Quaranta Altari Vin Santo del Chianti DOC 2021
Terrain:
Alberese limestone, Galestro and red clay
Cellar
Commitment to viticulture and agriculture in general, these are the strengths of the Frescobaldi family, which has been producing wine in Tuscany for seven hundred years, precisely since the early 14th century. The family also counts among its ancestors illustrious men of letters, explorers, musicians, bankers, bishops and politicians. The archive holds numerous ancient documents and the records include commercial contracts with many European courts from the 13th century onwards. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Florentine house supplied wines to the Court of England and many European countries, including the Papal Court. Even earlier, the Frescobaldi maintained relations and business contacts with the workshops of various famous artists including Donatello, Michelozzo Michelozzi and Filippo Brunelleschi.
Around the year 1000, the first members of the family moved to Florence from Val di Pesa, where we still find the Castiglioni Estate, the oldest agricultural estate of the family. At that time, the cities of central-northern Italy were becoming economically, politically and militarily stronger, to the detriment of feudal power; the lords in fact became urbanised, attracted and flattered by the commercial and political advantages that the cities offered.
The Frescobaldi settled in the Oltrarno part of the city in Piazza de' Frescobaldi where they built the loggia, tower and palace. In 1252, Lamberto Frescobaldi built the first wooden bridge over the Arno, now called Ponte Santa Trinita so as to connect his possessions with the ancient centre of Florence.
With great openness towards the future, the ancestors introduced then unknown grape varieties to Tuscany in 1855, including Carbernet Sauvignon, Merlot Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
The 20th century was characterised by the actions of Vittorio, Ferdinando and Leonardo Frescobaldi, who made an important contribution to elevating Tuscany to a place of excellence for viticulture.
Today, Lamberto Frescobaldi has picked up the baton, who, on the strength of his long technical experience, aims to further strengthen the uniqueness of the wines of each family estate.
Description
The Vin Santo Quaranta Altari, recalls a seventeenth-century episode involving a Frescobaldi ancestor, Bartolomeo. In the villa of Montecastello, Bartolomeo held the Ballo Angelico, a very libertine party for the spirit of the time. The news reached Rome and Pope Clement XI summoned him, threatening him with excommunication. In front of the pontiff, as a sign of repentance, Bartolomeo undertook to build forty churches on the Frescobaldi estates in Val di Pesa. It is an end-of-meal wine that goes well with all
the Tuscan pastry
Organoleptic characteristics:
Brilliant gold colour with amber highlights. The nose presents typical notes
of dried and candied fruit and hints of sweet spices. The palate is enveloping, warm, with good acidity that well balances the
sweet component. Remarkable taste-olfactory correspondence. Long and persistent on the finish.
Storage time:
5 years
Vinification
The grapes are dried in ventilated rooms. Fermentation takes place in small oak barrels.
Acknowledgements
