Ampeleia

Tuscany, Italy

AMPELEIA are a revelation of coastal Tuscan wine, a Mediterranean wine.

The domaine now called Ampeleia (ancient Greek for 'vines') was purchased in 2001 by partners Giovani Podini and iconic vigneronne Elisabetta Foradori, one of the most highly regarded growers in Italy.

From the get-go Elisabetta put her protegée Marco Tait, Giovanni Podini's son and her former assistant at Foradori, at the helm of this Tuscan project. Since 2002, Marco has sculpted a vision in step with Foradori: finding the soul of their wines in farming.

Using biodynamics and light-handed winemaking, Marco coaxes forth the essence of coastal Mediterranean varieties, alongside a very different breed of Super Tuscan's, focused on Cabernet Franc rather than Cabernet Sauvignon.

These are terroir-driven wines that boast enormous complexity from densely concentrated fruit, indigenous yeasts, and unimposing élevage choices for all their wines, eschewing oak in favour of cement fermenters for all but for their tête du cuvée, Ampeleia di Ampeleia, a brilliant 100% Cabernet Franc from their oldest vines in their most elevated vineyards, seeing one year in french oak and two years in bottle before release. These wines are the definition of purity, windows into a quiet sea-side Tuscan terroir earning growing recognition each year.

Their Maremma vineyards teem with life. You can taste that buzzing electricity in all of their wines. We are immensely proud to bring this Tuscan sunlight to Alberta.

If you want to know more about the characteristics of this area you can take a look at www.vinerra.com