
Dark Knight
I.G.T. Toscana
“It pays homage to the Castello’s kindred spirits, the standard bearers for a noble cause, the dark knights of the hills of Tuscany ”
A red blend, with a predominance of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and sangiovese, this wine appeals to and conquers all palates.
Vintage conditions
Considerably scarcer than average in terms of quantity, but capable, in every region of Italy, of overcoming climatic excesses unscathed, providing healthy and beautiful grapes, balanced in terms of alcohol and acidity, and heralding great wines.
After the April frost event, in Tuscany, the unusual heat and drought in summer further effected grapes reduction (the youngest vines did not reach the full growth) and translated into low yields as well. September was propitious: sunny, with good temperature ranges day and night, some gentle rain and good ventilation thus enabling us to harvest some very well ripened sangiovese grapes in October.
The result was : very low quantity and yeald but some very high quality Sangiovese grapes from the oldest vineyards, surprising for complexity and elegance, definitely above our expectations this year.
The quality was jeopardized by late September and October rainfalls. This year the location and exposure of each vineyard made the difference: elegant and fresh grapes lacking tannic density from some vineyards – very good grapes with excellent character and spice, high gradations but also good minerality in the vineyards in front of them. Very poor quantity. Average good quality.
Eccellent vintage either by volume and quality. Very balanced, healthy, perfectly ripe grapes, by all vineyards – different zones, for altitudes, exposure and microclimate it has been uniform, everywhere. We had peaks of unbelievable excellence, the structure of the grapes has also allowed us to macerate for a long time, and therefore we expect red wines that will express themselves well in the long term, the Sangiovese has given great results.