PRODUCTION - Waiting for an event. The birth of the Wine.
The birth of the wine..
From the passion and professionalism of ‘Tenute Girolamo’ estate is being created a first choice wine, the fruit of a long and hard work. The first important selection of grapes is being done by hand in the vineyards, after that the selected grapes are being immediately transferred to the cellar by adequate means of transport. Both, the transportation and the processing of grapes, take place at night in order to protect grapes from any stress. Moreover, the use of an underground cellar dug into the rock allows keeping the grapes temperature constant and their quite arrival to the estate.
The wine makers and the musts transformation.
The crashing of the grapes and the gentle pressing allow releasing the juice from the berries, operation that precedes the transfer of the must into the fermentation tanks. ‘Tenute Girolamo’ uses for fermentation, pumping up wood casks of highest quality, in which the transformation of the must into wine is taking place. It is here that occur the stages of maceration and alcoholic fermentation, two moments thanks to which it is possible to obtain those so special and inebriating aromas. The Fermentation tanks are temperature-controlled: a computerized system is continuously monitoring the temperature, the level of the must, the degree of alcoholic fermentation and skins irroration. This system is programmed and followed by our expert winemaker.
The wine-making process.
TheTenute Girolamo’s experts are the ones to decide the time the wine has to spend in the fermentation casks, according to the provenience of the must and the desired type of the wine. In this way the wine of our estate has gained success and popularity among winelovers. During the vinification, the must and the skins are being separated. The skins contain important components that define the colour (anthocyanins), the level of tannins and polyphenols in the wine and to better extract them the wine is being pumped up two or three times a day. This operation consists in periodically withdrawing part of the must through a tube, connected to a valve at the bottom of the fermentation cask, and pump it back over the fermenting juice, from the top of the cask.
The racking.
Once the fermentation process is completed, the wine is left to rest for three days, without pumping over. It helps to separate the skins from the wine, after that follows the racking. This procedure definitively separates the wine from the marc. From the bottom racking valve the free run wine is filtered by using special baskets and from there pumped off into tanks. The remaining wet skins are being gently pressed at a low pressure to help release some more wine which then is being blended with the free run wine whereas the left marc is pressed in pneumatic presses and the juice is distilled.
Racking of the lees and the rest.
By avoiding the sedimentation of the lees, it is possible to get free some more useful components that improve the quality of the wine and make possible to create that wonderful ‘nectar’ so much appreciated at the international level. This procedure is called ‘lees steering’ and lasts about 30 days, at the end of which the wine is left to rest until the lees have settled down and then removed. Through a valve at the top of the cask the relatively clear wine is being withdrawn and decanted into a different recipient leaving the lees behind to be distilled. From here the wine starts a long and in its way decisive process, during which rests but continues to renovate and to change constantly. A passage thanks to which the flavor takes consistency and this natural prodigy arrives to its first fulfillment.
The Blending and Incomparable job of the oenologist.
After a variable period of rest, follows the processes of ‘toping up’ and blending. In this case, the advice of an expert oenologist becomes crucial, since it is him who accompanies and guides through the blending process. Wines from different grapes and plots are intertwined and mixed together in order to improve certain desired aspects of a wine, a procedure that requires the knowledge and experience of a great winemaker. This is a deciding moment and certainly the most fascinating of the entire process of the Girolamo wines production, that succeeds to make absolutely extraordinary wines.
The aging and the bottling.
The well-known process of ageing closes this long journey through aromas and flavours giving birth to different typologies of wines. The red wines are aged in oak barriques for a period between 12 and the 18 months. Different steps are necessary: first of all a good clarification, when organic elements and proteins are added; then, with the filtration, the wine is passed through membranes of variable thickness in order to eliminate any impurities. One last important quality certificate shall be determined by the bottling, during which the wine faces another period of aging called fining. This period generally lasts six months and precedes the final packaging of closed and labelled bottles.
