FROM VINEYARD TO GOBLET
Painstakingly respectful of all the traits and
characteristics of the native grapes, wine-making at the Belriguardo
Charterhouse involves state-of-the-art techniques. For a wine-making
process which rests entirely on a meticulous care of the vineyards,
grape quality is the first and uppermost concern.
The self-imposed limitation of the surface allotted to vineyards on
the farm allows our experts to work on the vines exclusively by hand
during both pruning and thinning out. The moderate grape yield per acre
reflects our winery’s philosophy, making the attain-ment of the
highest quality levels its primary goal. This explains why it took several
trial runs before actually bottling and market-ing the three wine varieties
now bearing the trade mark of the Bel-riguardo Charterhouse. By the
same token we chose not to produce a single bottle in years not ideally
suited for wine making, like 2002 and 2003.
Grape picking is a crucial stage in the wine production cycle. It is
exclusively entrusted to fully qualified staff who manually se-lect
and pick the best grapes, which are right away processed in the charterhouse’s
cellars. That is where the various wine-making and aging phases take
place, first in stainless steel, and afterwards in cement and wood containers,
with different time tables allotted to each variety. At any rate, it
will take no less than a six months’ ageing period before any
of our wines is marketed. That is the minimum time required to obtain
a superior Tuscan wine worthy of Renzo Cotarella’s signature.
