2021 La Ricolma

Luca Martini di Cigala presented a superb set of wines. The 2020s are stellar. It was not an easy vintage, though. There is no Ricolma. An unexpected and sudden rise in volatile acidity required a level of intervention the estate did not want to undertake, so the 2020 was not bottled. In tasting, the 2020s are brilliant, with an unforgettable Percarlo leading the way. The 2021s, which I tasted from barrel, might turn out to be even better. “In 2020, we started to see some dehydration on the vine in well-draining sites, so we moved harvest up by five days,” Luca Martini di Cigala explained. “Our harvest took place from September 16 to October 6, whereas in 2021 we started on September 22 and finished on October 15.”

As always, most of the focus here is on the vineyards, while winemaking is decidedly minimalist. Fermentations are done in cement with indigenous yeasts, with the exception of Ricolma, which is now fermented using commercial yeasts, a measure taken to avoid a repeat of 2020, when the wine was inadvertently ruined. Malolactic fermentations are completed by the end of the year. The wines are then racked and moved into oak at the beginning of the following year. Most of the wines see 18-20 days on the skins, but that can grow to 35-40 for Percarlo. The Chianti Classico is aged in cask and/or neutral oak, while the Baroncole and Percarlo are aged in a mix of French oak and cask, while Ricolma is raised entirely in French oak.