Casa de Capo Tenuta Cappellina
Casa del Capo is an everyday, 100% Sangiovese, “Super Tuscan”
Tenuta Cappellina’s experience in the vineyards has allowed them to increase the level of tannin ripeness, that is softness, at harvest. This also means they can push a little more each year in terms of yields. They have come to the conclusion “that it is almost better to allow the vigour in our vineyards to blow off steam, rather than cut back excessively”.
50% is aged for 12 months in large 33hl Slavonian oak botti, the other 50% vinified in stainless steel.
While it is common in the industry to see wines aged in small French oak barrels, this method of softening tannins can often reduce the fruitiness and freshness of the wine. Tenuta Cappellina use large barrels (botti) – here there is less contact of the oak on the wines and therefore the wines are aged for longer.
The result are softer, easier wines, more suited to the current consumer taste.
Certified organic.
Dark garnet colour, showing prominent ‘legs’ in the glass. Herbal bouquets dominate the nose with a touch of smoke and little fruit aromas. The vibrant, tangy palate has a lovely pepper and spice character; the typical Sangiovese red-cherry fruit develops through opening.
A great match for roast lamb, or tapenade.
About the Producer
Tenuta Cappellina
Tenuta Cappellina are a small privately owned boutique winery with a passion to make great wines and respect the biodiversity of their small corner of Tuscany.
It has taken a decade of work in the vineyards with sustainable organic farming practices to remove all trace of chemicals and create a haven for wildlife both in the rewilded areas of the estate and between the vines in the vineyard.
Biodiversity of the vineyard is boosted by planting cover crops between the vines to attract the insects that eat the bugs that damage the fruit. Soil quality is constantly tested and where it need improving cow manure from local organic farms is used as fertiliser.
80% of the estate is woodland and over the past few years they have allowed the forests to thicken to protect wild boar, deer, porcupines, pine martins, red squirrels and recently for the first time have had sightings of the Eurasian wolf.
Grapes are grown without the use of herbicides, pesticides and synthetic chemical fertilisers. They only use low levels of certified organic copper and sulphur where intervention is necessary to protect the fruit from egg laying insects and mould. These sit on the surface of plants (and wash away in the rain), in contrast to chemical pesticides that are absorbed by the plant – and end up in your wine!
Wines are crafted without the addition of any chemicals, including preservatives, dyes or sugar. There is minimium use of sulphites.
Alex Burge, Managing Director of Tenuta Cappellina, is the man who had the vision to convert to a sustainable, organic and award-winning winery. With English and Dutch parents he was brought up in Sicily, before returning to the UK to gain a degree at Cambridge. His career started in Bordeaux where he worked in the wine industry for a number of years as a Negociant, before returning to his native Italy to run the sales and marketing departments in a number of well-known wineries.
Atillio Pagli is one of the most prestigious consulting oenologists in the world; working all over Italy as well as in South America and is featured in Decanter Magazine’s list of the world’s top winemakers.
