Máté is an organic estate winery in Santa Restituta, a locality in the seaward south-west of the Montalcino region of Italy. It produces Brunello di Montalcino DOCG red wines and other wines under the Sant’Antimo Rosso DOC.
Owner: The Máté family-own and run the estate. Ferenc Máté is the author of three books which recount the experiences of his family’s move to Tuscany from New York. The books (which include The Hills of Tuscany, and A Vineyard in Tuscany) have been translated into 14 languages and have sold over a million copies worldwide. Ferenc Máté and his wife Candace Máté (348.3545384), a painter, left New York City in 1990. They bought an abandoned farm in Montalcino with two hills, a canyon with waterfalls and a 13th century friary with a tower and courtyard. Their Syrah and Merlot debued in 2006 from the difficult 2002 vintage.
Contact: Jessica Acciaroli. Sales (2014): Alessandra Galantini. Viticulturist: Oriando Scheggi (same as Gaja). Winemaker: Francesca Arquint.
Vineyards: 7 hectares of land. 6.50 hectares of vineyards. In Santa Restituta, in the temperate, seaward zone of Montalcino. The estate was a Roman vineyard 2,000 years ago (the owners claim).
Mainly Mediterranean woods and scrub. Varied terroir. 320–420 metres above sea level. The vineyard was designed by Fabrizio Moltard. The budwood came from France’s Pierre Guillaume: Sangiovese (in fossil-filled tufo), Merlot (in sandy clay), Cabernet Sauvignon (in marl), and Syrah (on mineral-rich, southern terraces). 6,200 vines per hectare, (3,000 per acre).
Winemaking: Hand-picked. Fermented in small temperature-controlled stainless steel and wooden (Allier) vats. The grapes are punched down by hand. The wines age in Allier French oak barriques and tonneaux.
Organic certification: 2016 First vintage with full certification.
Wines
Sant’Antimo Rosso DOC, Mantus: 2011 2,700 bottles. Merlot. 18 months in French Allier barrels. Tastes acidified (Anteprima 2014). | 2012 3,600 bottles. Tastes acidified-plump vanilla (Anteprima 2015).
Sant’Antimo Rosso DOC, Mania: 2011 1,600 bottles. Cabernet Sauvignon. Credible acidity, decent fruit in an international style, well constructed but hardly interesting (Anteprima 2014). | 2012 1,800 bottles. Plum, OK tannin, bit fluffy, decent tannin, simple (Anteprima 2015).
Rosso di Montalcino DOC: 2012 2,000 bottles. Sweet and sappy, quite high, quite unusual (Anteprima 2014). | 20132,000 bottles (Anteprima 2015).
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Maté: 2009 15,000 bottles. Apple cherry, unusually high acidity for a 2009 Brunello (Anteprima 2014). | 2012 15,400 bottles. Sour cherry-bit odd (Anteprima 2015).
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva: 2008 2,500 bottles. Smoky splinters, mid-palate has some finesse but still rather dry and powdery (Anteprima 2014).
Contact
Podere Il Falconaio
Loc. Santa Restituta, I-53024 Montalcino (SI = Siena), Italy
Website: www.matewine.com