Poggio di Sotto winery
The Southeast-facing vineyards elevate between 200m and 450m altitude. Influenced by Mount Amiata, the Orcia river, and the Tyrrhenian sea. Poggio di Sotto s highest altitude vines neighbour Mastrojanni. Vines at 300 metres are near the Poggio di Sotto ( the winery vineyard ). In 2020 there were plans to create a 40 cubic metre reservoir to be able to irrigate vines that risk dying. Permission is needed to irrigate for emergency use. The vines can be sprayed with kaolin powder when it gets hot. The main harvest is 100% by hand. There is a minimum of two and usually three passes because the vines are at 200, 300, and 400 metres, meaning there can be a 10-day difference in ripening for each. Having to stagger picking means the right overall acidity levels can be maintained to avoid acidification. Alcoholic fermentation is via indigenous yeasts, with the starter drawn from a micro-fermentation of handpicked estate grapes begun just before the main harvest. The wines ferment in tronconic wooden 10-60hl vats, (Giampiero Pazzaglia 08th July 2020). Piero Palmucci aged his Brunello for a minimum of four years in 30hl Slavonian oak Botti, renewing them every decade. Claudio Tipa maintained this same method, with the Brunello seeing 4 years in oak, and the Riserva seeing 5 years in 30hl vats, exactly like it was the 1980s, (Giampiero Pazzaglia 08th July 2020). Wines are bottled unfiltered.