Ampeleia - 'Ampeleia' - Cabernet Franc - Costa Toscana, IT - 2019

Notes from the Winery/Importer

100% Cabernet Franc from the Ampeleia di Sopra parcels at 450-600 meters above sea level. Vines were planted between1995 and 2004. The grapes are fully destemmed and there is a maceration of 20 days. Fermented in cement tanks and 5000-6000L casks. Aging is 12 months in these same vessels, followed by 2 years of aging in bottle before release. 20,000 bottles produced.

"Made with Cabernet Franc, the 2019 Ampeleia gives us a unique view onto a grape variety that we are seeing with increasingly successful results along the coast of Tuscany. In this case, you get punchy (macerated) fruit flavors of candied blueberry and cherry and lots of vertical lift from a producer who always offers interesting winemaking interpretations in wines from Tuscany and in the far north of Italy under the Elisabetta Foradori brand. The wine winds down slowly with lingering notes of cigar ash, smoke and tar."
Monica Larner,
Wine Advocate
Jun 22, 2023

"The 2019 Ampeleia (Cabernet Franc) is deep, flashy and super-expressive. In 2019, Ampeleia seems to offer a bit more volume and brooding intensity than in most years. Black cherry, mocha, dried herbs and espresso lend notable sepia­toned intensity throughout. This potent Franc is a winner. I suggest giving the 2019, and all these wines, frankly, a bit of aeration, as oxygen is so beneficial. "
Antonio Galloni,
Vinous Media
August 2023

"Presents perfumed aromas of cherry, raspberry, cedar, leather, wild herbs and spices, which echo on the palate. An intense red, with a firm structure, this builds to a long, complex finish. Needs a bit more time to integrate the dusty tannins. "
Bruce Sanderson ,
Wine Spectator
October 2023

Notes on the Producer

Ampeleia was established in 2002, the year in which Marco Tait, young and impulsive at the time, answered the call of the current owners, Elisabetta Foradori and Giovanni Podini, to take charge of the first harvest, without being fully aware of what he was getting involved in. Marco, fresh out of oenology and viticulture school, had been enchanted by the call of the Maremma and he and Elisabetta had known each other for a while. However, Ampeleia had been conceived by three friends two years earlier, at an altitude of 2153 metres in the Comici mountain refuge in the Dolomites. It was during the winter of 2000 that Elisabetta, Giovanni and Thomas had the idea for creating Ampeleia. They wanted to farm in a place that was beautiful but out of the ordinary, away from the stereotypes around which the world of wine revolves. For the following two years they travelled far and wide throughout Italy lin search of that ideal place, which they came across one spring day in Roccatederighi. An exhilarating discovery, a place to take your breath away, with vineyards and a terroir with incredible potential. This is it, Ampeleia will be born here. However, as we all know, saying is one thing, doing is another, and in this case the "doing" was hectares of land to be tilled, vines to be planted, grapes to be harvested. They started straight away because the land cannot wait. Marco was persuaded by their dream at a stand at Vinitaly and travelled to the Upper Maremma, convinced he would only be there for a few weeks during the grape harvest but instead he began to put down roots in Roccatederighi. With the impulsiveness and courage of his twenty years, he took over the management of the vineyards and cellar, starting with a few concrete tanks and the six hectares inherited from the former owner planted with different red grape varieties. His instinct led him immediately to focus on Cabernet Franc and he started to impulsively plant it, but without exaggerating, as Ampeleia's goal has always been excellence. These were years of discoveries, such as the decision to focus on biodynamics, or to find friends of Cabernet Franc, even better if they were local. This was the start of the return to the Mediterranean variety par excellence, the other native of the Upper Maremma, Alicante Nero. Ampeleia, conceived in the mountains, like a rolling snowball has grown over the years. New vineyards, the arrival of animals and young people from different corners of Italy, to dream together with Marco. Today Ampeleia covers over 120 hectares of land, 35 of which are vineyards. The rest is woodland, arable land and our olive grove. We also have a small vegetable garden and our animals have reared their families here. In Ampeleia, the force of the Upper Maremma region of Tuscany encounters the sea breeze, giving rise to delicate and elegant wines; this is the power of harmony. Our wines speak of a territory formed of highs and lows, of history and innovation, of asperity and love. Our root is Cabernet Franc. From the very first pressing we understood that it had an undeveloped potential. Cabernet Franc is the grape variety that best expresses the identity of our territory. The Mediterranean essence of this hinterland inspired us to recover its ancient grape variety par excellence, Alicante Nero, which lives in symbiosis with other varieties less well known to the ears of locals, but which are truly expressed here: Carignano and Mourvèdre.