Sassotondo is an organic estate winery in Sovana di Sorano in south-west Tuscany producing Bianco di Pitigliano DOC white wines, Sovana DOC red wines and Maremma Toscana DOC red and white wines.

Background: Edoardo Ventimiglia was a documentary film director in Rome with a small old family studio. His grandfather had been film maker Alfred Hitchcock’s first cameraman. His wife Carla Benini Ventimiglia was born in Trento and worked as an agronomist, having studied agriculture in Milan. Slowly but unavoidably they lost interest in their city jobs. When they arrived here in 1990 there were 1ha of vines (see below for details), a house in bad shape and land that had been abandoned for years. They sent their grapes to the Pitigliano co-op until 1997 when the first harvest took place in the owners’ restored cellar here, and the first wines were bottled. Oenologist and friend Attilio Pagli has advised here. In 2005 they had two dogs, Mila and Panda, but in 2012 only Mila was still alive.

Terroir: The estate lies between the Etruscan townships of Sorano and Pitigliano, 35 miles (50km) from the sea but blocked by hills, so the climate is continental, with cold nights and hot days. The area is considered hilly by altitude (the winery vineyard lies at 300 metres), but actually is better described as a series of “highlands,” divided by deep creeks carved into the “tufo” stone by semi-permanent watercourses.

Vineyards: There are 72ha of land in total. In 1990 when the current owners arrived there were only around 1ha of vines: 0.5ha of Ciliegiolo and Sangiovese, and 0.5ha of an unknown red variety (which was ripped out in 2003) for the previous owners’ personal consumption. The new owners acquired a second vineyard in 1991 or 1992 called San Lorenzo. This is located down the road and overlooks Pitigliano. San Lorenzo comprises 6ha (part is woodland I think) of which 3.5ha is Ciliegiolo. The vines were planted in the 1960s on Kober 5BB. The vineyard also contains some Carignan (used in the Sovana), and Sangiovese (used in the Sovana or the Franze).

In 2012 overall there were 8ha of red grapes, mostly Ciliegiolo, Sangiovese (guyot, old vines), and Merlot (alberello), plus old vine “Alicante” (which could be Grenache Noir or even Carignan); and 2ha of white grapes: Greco, Trebbiano, and Sauvignon Blanc. High cordon training is used for white vines planted from 1995. The single row of Chardonnay planted by the previous owners has been ripped out.

Volcanic soil: Sassotondo lies on the edge of the Bolsena volcanic basin, on volcanic soil of compressed sandstone or “tufo”. This was used to build the house here, the cellar is dug into the tufo as well and the estate is named after a large round stone in the vineyard. Pastures and woodland enclose the farm, giving it a somewhat wild appearance that makes it seem more isolated than it actually is, at 6 km from Sovana (3 km if you walk on the old trail carved in the tufo) and 5 km from Pitigliano. As there is little topsoil, with lot of stones underneath, hydric stress can be a problem. Where there is volcanic tufa however humidity is retained and the soil is much richer in both potassium than normal soils (and thus quite saline), so the grapes can lose acidity very quickly, tufo having very high levels of potassium. It is also rich in magnesium although the magnesium usefully balances the high potassium. This means salt-tolerant roostocks are needed: 1103 Paulsen (berlandieri x rupestris) which is drought-tolerant, suited to low fertility sites but can be a bit too vigorous; and 420A (berlandieri x riparia) which is well adapted to volcanic soils, and can resist hydric stress (low vigour, hastens maturity but would struggle with too much sodium). These soils use up organic matter very quickly. If it rains, large amounts of nutrients can go to the vines very quickly, which can be a problem.

Production: Up to 50,000 bottles.

Organic certification: 1992 Organics begins. | 2004 Certified organic by ICEA. | 2005 First trials with Biodynamics. | 2007 Organic and biodynamic practices.

Pests: An electric fence protects the vines from wild boar, but is less successful at keeping out porcupines, or the neighbours’ sheep who eat vine leaves.

Winemaking: White wines are inoculated but reds are not. Everything ferments in stainless steel.

White wines

Bianco di Pitigliano & Superiore DOC: 2003 Flagging, and think this is due to the fact it was sitting in the Pitigliano wine shop as has some underlying fresh grassy fruit with decent acidity at Argiano on Sat 19th March 2005. Second bottle from the estate has much more freshness but was still a little tired and both were sealed with plastic. Think this is based on Trebbiano with SB, Greco and a bit of Chardonnay.

Bianco di Pitigliano DOC, Isolina: 2011 Steel. The back label says this comes from the Isolina vineyard in Sovana on terreni tufacei. 50% Trebbiano Toscana (almonds), 35% Sauvignon Blanc (aroma), 15% Greco Bianco (body). Steel. 13.5%. 5,000 bottles. More bodied and less vibrant than the Tufo Bianco at the winery Friday 28th Sept 2012. | 2012 Lotto Unico on label. Lovely bruised apple richness and freshness at Fra’s in Torrenieri on 31 Jan 2014.

Maremma Bianco DOC, Tufo Bianco: 2011 70% Trebbiano, 20% Sauvignon Blanc, 10% Greco Bianco (skin contact). Stainless steel. 50hl. 6,000 bottles. Lovely savoury salty tang, with intense bruised apple and pastry, bright golden straw colour, apricot, very textured at the winery during lunch on Friday afternoon 28th September 2012.

Red wines

Maremma Rosso DOC: 2003 70% Ciliegiolo, Sangiovese, Alicante Bouschet. €8.90 from the estate in 2004. Clear fresh cherry and Pinot-like fruit; elegant tannin and very focused at the winery on Wednesday afternoon 9th March 2005. | 2010 The 2010 was like ‘chewing pepper’ Edoardo told me during lunch at the winery on Friday afternoon 28th September 2012.

Sovana Rosso Superiore: 2010 60% Sangiovese, 30% Ciliegiolo, 10% Merlot. 12m in older oak. Bramble fruit, sweeter more international style at the winery during lunch 28th Sept 2012.

Sovana Rosso Superiore, Franze: 1999 70% Sangiovese, 25% Ciliegiolo, 5% Merlot. €12. Lovely wild black fruit, plenty of concentration, fine grained tannins at the winery 9th March 2005. | 2000 75% Sangiovese, 25% Ciliegiolo. | 2007 30% Sangiovese, 30% Ciliegiolo, 30% Merlot. 1,200 bottles. A bit hot, oaky but also rich and bright (Visit 28th September 2012).

Ciliegiolo: Ciliegiolo, Maremma Toscana. This is made from Ciliegiolo grafts taken from the San Lorenzo vineyard (see below) and planted by the winery. Edoardo says “Ciliegiolo has soft tannins, so it drinks well when it is young, but it really comes into its own if you can wait 3-4 years. You can chill it on a hot day and drink it with salted cod for lunch or with the local dry-cured ham (il prosciutto soranese).” Their biggest production wine at 30,000 bottles. | 2011 14.5%. Stainless steel (unoaked). Lovely crisp sappy rich cherry sweetness and pepper/spice (Visit 28th September 2012).

Maremma Toscana DOC, Ciliegiolo, San Lorenzo: Sassotondo’s owners acquired the San Lorenzo vineyard in 1991. This is located around 8 km east of the winery, on a plateau overlooking the town of Pitigliano which lies to the west (the winery being west of Pitigliano, and San Lorenzo being east of Pitigliano). San Lorenzo has a total of 3.5 hectares of vines, plus a small amount of woodland (mainly evergreen oak trees and Mediterranean scrub). The vines are planted south-east to north-east at an altitude of 300 metres. The soil is described as ‘subacido tufaceo di medio impasto’. There are two blocks of Ciliegiolo: the oldest 2.9 hectares was planted in the 1960s (2,500 vines/ha; Kober 5BB; single guyot); another 0.6 hectares was planted  in 2003 (4,500 vines/ha; 1103 P; single guyot). The first Ciliegiolo wine bottled as San Lorenzo was 1997. The grapes are hand picked, ferment in stainless steel, then age for around 30 months in used barrels. Around 5,000 bottles are made each year. The oldest Ciliegiolo blocks in San Lorenzo also contain around 300 vines of randomly planted Carignan Noir (used in the Sovana), and another 300 vines of randomly planted Sangiovese (used in the Sovana or ‘Franze’). | 1997 Debut. | 2001 Dense tannin, wild  fruit, wood still a bit dry and present but lovely flavour too, like Cabernet Sauvignon but without the herb or aggressive tannins, good length (Visit 9th March 2005). | 2002 Sees a bit of wood. Lovely wild fruit again, very soft texture and more freshness and elegance than Karl Egger’s wine although with the same oenologist though; can feel the cool breeze here and the cool nights (Visit 9th March 2005). | 2008 5,000 bottles. Peppery fruit, black and red with mint, crisp, a bit stretched perhaps at the winery during lunch on Friday afternoon 28th September 2012. | 2010 Bit oaky and splintery in at Fra’s in Torrenieri on 31 Jan 2014.

Sales: Did work with Nick Belfrage MW for the Wine Society UK.

Other activities: Olives. 4 double bedrooms in one house with a common kitchen to rent.

Contact

Az Ag Sassotondo

Loc. Pian di Conati 52

I-58010 Sovana di Sorano (GR), Italy

Tel+39 0564.614218 | Website: www.sassotondo./it/en