2021 Tenuta di Trinoro “Le Cupole”, Tuscany, Italy

ABOUT THIS WINE

The second label of Tenuta di Trinoro, Le Cupole was first produced in 1995. It is a blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petit Verdot, with percentages varying with each vintage. Fermented in stainless steel and aged in one to three-year-old barriques and cement, Le Cupole is velvety and approachable. This wine hits the palate with exuberance, full of fleshy, bright fruit, extracted tannins, and rich color.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Located in a remote corner of southeastern Tuscany, Tenuta di Trinoro specializes in rich, age-worthy red wines made of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot. The 200-hectare estate sits in viticultural isolation in the Orcia Valley near Sarteano, where Tuscany meets Umbria and Lazio.

Owner and winemaker Andrea Franchetti acquired the property in the 1980s and in the beginning of the 1990s started planting his first vines. The most important lesson he gleaned from a stint in Bordeaux was the crucial role played by terroir. He saw, in the rough woodland that would become Trinoro,clay-limestone and gravel soils reminiscent of those in Saint-Émilion. Only select parcels were suitable for vine-growing, amid a sea of blue clay, and those he cleared by hand and planted in the style of the Bordelais: high-density, meter-by-meter plantings, with cuttings brought over from some of the region’s great estates.

Tight planting, high thinning, very low yields, extreme ripeness, and concentration of flavor characterize his winemaking style. The wines are highly perfumed and opulent, at once approachable and meant to be left to develop in the bottle over time.