Description
L’Apparita was Tuscany’s first pure Merlot and has been a cult wine since its very first vintage, in 1985. The small plots that make up the 3.84 hectares of the L’Apparita vineyard are set atop the Vigneto Bellavista hill, at an altitude di 490 metres asl. In 1975 they were planted with Canaiolo and Malvasia Bianca, then grafted over with Merlot clone 342 between 1982 and 1985.
Awards

Perfume

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Taste
Serve at:
16 - 18 °C.
Longevity:
15 - 25 years
Decanting time:
1 hour

- Start up year: 1972
- Oenologist: Marco Pallanti
- Hectares: 70
Ama was owned by the Firidolfi family during the Holy Roman Empire. The castle, which stands in the denomination, was probably destroyed in the 15th century during the Aragonese invasions in the Chianti area.
In the early 1700s new dwellings were built on the ruins of the castle. Hence, the construction of the villas belonging to Pianigiani and Ricucci families, which now comprise the Castello di Ama estate headquarters.
A document dating to July 1773 contains a report by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Leopold II, as the Governor of Tuscany, which praised the excellence of the hilly terrain.
The beauty of Ama spurred Tomaso Carini to oversee the rebirth of this land in the early 70s, involving 3 friends (GianVittorio Cavanna, Pietro Tradico and Lionello Sebasti) in the project.
The four entrepreneurs, led by Cavanna, replanted most of the vineyards and built a modern fermentation cellar, which became an innovative model for the entire area.
Marco Pallanti joined Ama in 1982, a young Florentine agronomist who became the estate’s winemaker after extensive technical training at the University of Bordeaux under the supervision of Patrick Léon.
Lorenza Sebasti, , Lionello's daughter, took over the estate’s management in 1993. A 40-year labour together, Lorenza and Marco continue to share the same passion and vision.
The second generation of the Carini, Tradico and Sebasti families run the company today. Read more


Name | Castello di Ama l'Apparita 2021 |
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Type | Red green still |
Denomination | Toscana IGT |
Vintage | 2021 |
Size | 0,75 l |
Alcohol content | 14.5% by volume |
Grape varieties | 100% Merlot |
Country | Italy |
Region | Tuscany |
Vendor | Castello di Ama |
Origin | Gaiole in Chianti (Siena). |
Climate | Altitude: 490 m. a.s.l. Exposure: North – South. |
Soil composition | Limestone with a prevalence of clays. |
Cultivation system | Open lyre. |
Wine making | Fermentation was started using ambient yeasts in steel tanks at a controlled temperature of 30–33 °C, with manual pumpovers and total cuvaison of 25 days. After first racking, the wine was transferred to barriques for malolactic fermentation. |
Aging | After malolactic fermentation, the wine spent 18 months in fine-grain oak barriques, of which 50% were new and the rest were second passage. The wine was bottled on 21 September 2013, producing 6,840 standard Bordeaux bottles, 210 magnums, 40 Jeroboams, and 20 Salmanazars. |
PH | 3.47 |
Dry extract | 28.9 gr/L |
Allergens | Contains sulphites |