Mondeuse, Toscana Rosso

Maria Sole’s father has a particular fondness for the mighty Mondeuse—a spice-driven Alpine variety that produces the Savoie’s greatest reds—and he planted a small parcel in the late 1990s at Ficomontanino as an experiment. These vines grow at 350 meters altitude in the sandy clay soils of the Vigna Grande parcel and yield only about 1,000 bottles per vintage. Maria Sole employs the same natural vinification and gentle extraction here as she does with her Sangiovese, but the darker-fruited, grippier, spicier character of the Mondeuse shines through beautifully. Fermented in cement with a 10-day maceration, this spent six further months in cement followed by a year in non-temperature-controlled stainless steel before being bottled without clarification or filtration.