PRODUCER

Il Faggio is made for Liberty Wines by Matt Thomson's colleague, Alana McGettigan, at one of the region's best co-operatives in the northern part of the Abruzzi. The aim is to capture in the bottle the power and intensity of the grape, together with a lift and freshness which is seldom found in wine from this region. The name, Il Faggio, derives from the fabulous beech trees which proliferate in this area, especially in the Abruzzo national park.

VINEYARDS

The grapes for this wine were grown on a mixture of hillside sites and flatter vineyards surrounding the town of San Salvo in Abruzzo

VINTAGE

This vintage saw relatively mild weather with optimal rainfall. As a result, the grapes are of excellent quality with good levels of sugar, tannin and colour.

VINIFICATION

Only the best quality grapes were chosen for this blend, from primarily hand-harvested fruit. At the winery the grapes were destemmed, crushed and pumped to stainless-steel tanks where the must was inoculated with selected yeast strains and fermented for about six days at temperatures up to 34°C. Regular pump overs took place, more frequently during the first few days, to increase extraction which became less frequent towards the end of the fermentation process. After pressing, the wine was transferred to tank where malolactic fermentation took place.

TASTING NOTES