Ca’Marcanda is a conventional estate in the Bolgheri DOC region in Livorno Province, Tuscany.

Owner: Angelo Gaja.

Background: In 1996 the Pavoletti family (merchants) sold their Bolgheri estate to Angelo Gaja (who was then in his fifties). It had fruit trees, olive trees, animals and vines. As the Pavolettis were reluctant to sell Gaja renamed the estate, replacing Santa Teresa with Ca’Marcanda, which denotes a long discussion or negotiation in Gaja’s native Piemontese dialect. 2000 was Gaja’s first vintage here.

Estate vineyards: Angelo Gaja planted 60 hectares of vines after his purchase: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and a little Syrah. The land was deemed too flat it seems for Sangiovese which is brought in from Montalcino for the IGT wines. There are 11 different types of soil here (all alluvial) with two main types: terre brune (‘dark earth’), predominantly loam and clay, with very little limestone or stone), and terre bianche (‘white earth’), primarily clay and sand, rich in limestone plus different sized stones and pebbles).

Winery: Part-underground; state-of-the-art; black floors, metal columns plus bronze, copper, local stone, black basalt and rusted steel; huge barrel room where barrels need not be stacked. Guido Rivella supervised the winemaking

White wines

Vistamare: Bottled as a Toscana Bianco. The name means ‘sea view’. Vermentino, Viognier, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc.

Red wines

Promis: Bottled as a Toscana Rosso. | 2004 55% Merlot, 35% Syrah, 10% Sangiovese, all fermented separately. Aged 18m in new and used barriques. | 2010 13.5%. Very smooth, hint of green almost hidden at the back at Nick Nicholas’s in Combe Down Tuesday 31 July 2018.

Magari: ‘Magari’ in Italian means ‘if only’. From the lighter limestone and darker clay soils. Bottled as a Toscana Rosso. | 2002 50% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc. | 2010 50% Merlot, 25% each both Cabernets. Aged 18m in new and used barriques.

Ca’Marcanda, Bolgheri Rosso DOC: From one of the stoniest sites of the Ca’Marcanda estate in Castegneto Carducci (Bolgheri). Its 100% terre bianche (white soils) are said to produce potentially long-lived wines. | 2001 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc. | 2006 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc. Aged 18m in new and used barriques.

Contact

Soc. Agric. Ca’Marcanda

Località Santa Teresa

57022 Castagneto Carducci (LI), Italy

Tel+39 0565.763809 | Website: www.camarcanda.com

GPS Coordinates: 43.194854, 10.616656