Fico 2016

300 bottles produced Produced in San Casciano in Val di Pesa, Florence Organic Farming Method from the Gugliaie vineyard 100% Sangiovese Altitude of 270metres with South exposition The soil is pliocenic hills rich in river stones 5,000 plants per ha. Trained on Spurred cordon Average age of the vine is 20 years. harvest on 19th September 2016. Fermentation - manual destemming, fermentation in open French oak barrels for 16 days; daily punch-down of the cap during fermentation. Unfiltered with no sulphites added. Bottle on 16th June 2016. 13% alchool. Denomination : IGT Toscana Sangiovese From a beautiful vineyard with a nearby fig tree (after which the wine is named), the 2016 Fico is only the second edition of a new wine project started by Filippo Corsini. Only 300 bottles were produced in this vintage, and I tasted this wine in one of the magnificent entertaining rooms inside the palatial Villa Le Corti with Duccio Corsini in September of this year. The bouquet took a minute or two to open, but it did so in resounding style with very clean and precise aromas of wild berry, cassis and fresh violets. We also tasted the 2017 vintage from barrel (only three barrels were made), and you already get a sense of the fullness and natural sweetness of that very warm season. The 2016 edition actually grows considerably in volume and texture as it opens slowly in your glass. The wine is fine and silky, with some chalky dustiness on the finish. Duccio is weighing a decision to use Tuscan clay amphorae (called orci) for future vinifications of Fico. Fico is a labor of love executed today by Duccio Corsini but started by his son Filippo in 2015. Only 300 bottles were made in 2016, so the wine is very precious and rare. Although I tend to avoid using the term "natural wine," Fico falls under the definition of that winemaking philosophy. The farming is organic and biodynamic, and winemaking is without sulfites and with little other intervention. This was the approach started by Filippo, and today his father embraces this project with the same passion and dedication. In many ways, Fico represents the young spirit and dynamic thought of a new generation in what is one of Italy's oldest noble families: it is a new tradition in a family made of many, many past traditions.