Angheli Donnafugata 2018 lt.0,75

Angheli Donnafugata<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Angheli Donnafugata offers an ample bouquet with prevalent notes of red fruit and a well-balanced palate. It is an elegant wine and versatile for food pairing. Pleasant to sip from a glass also during informal moments with friends.

Type: Red - Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon Sicilia IGP.

Grapes: Merlot (60%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (40%).

Production area: South-western <?xml:namespace prefix = "st1" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Sicily, Territory of Casale Bianco (Contessa Entellina).

Altitude: 200 to 600 m AMSL

Orography: hilly.

Soils: clay loam with a sub-alkaline reaction (pH 7.5 to 7.9). Total limestone about 20% and not overly endowed with nutritive elements (potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, manganese, zinc).

VINEYARD

Training and pruning: VSP (vertical shoot positioning), with wooden stakes and stainless steel wires; cordon spur training, leaving 6 to 8 buds per plant.

Planting densities: 4,500 to 6,000 plants per hectare (1,822-2,429 per acre).

Yield per hectare: about 6 tons (2.4 tons per acre).

Vintage: with cool temperatures and rainfall concentrated in spring, overall, 2011 was a vintage with less rain compared to the Sicilian average, with yields that were slightly lower than normal. The harvest of the grapes destined for Angheli began in the last week of August with the Merlot and ended in mid-September with the harvest of the Cabernet. The grapes, healthy and ripe, allowed us to “bring into the glass” a bouquet rich in aromas, striking elegance and very soft tannins.

CELLAR

Fermentation: in stainless steel with maceration on the skins for about 11-13 days at a temperature of 28° C (82.5°F).

Aging: in second passage French oak barriques and tonneaux for about a year and in the bottle for another two years.

Analysis data: alcohol 14.20% ABV, total acidity 6.8 g/l, pH 3.5.

TASTING NOTES

Description (21/10/2014): Angheli 2011 offers an ample bouquet, notes of red fruits such as ripe cherries and blackberries prevail, on discreet hints of Mediterranean scrub among which myrtle is easily distinguishable. In the mouth we find good balance: evident notes of fruit, that amaze with their fragrance, and well-integrated wood. An elegant wine, pleasant to sip from a glass and versatile for food pairing.

Aging potential: over 8 years.

THE WINE EXPERIENCE

Food & Wine: with roast or braised red meats and lamb; porcini mushroom dishes, rabbit and meatloaf. If served in wide glasses with a large bowl it can be uncorked at the time of serving, otherwise a couple of hours earlier. Excellent at 16-18°C (61-64°F).

Occasions: an ideal companion for a barbecue, a bachelor party or an informal dinner with friends.

Art & Wine "... of loves and ladies, knights and arms...". Would that be Angelica of Orlando Enraged, who flees on the horse shown on the label? Donnafugata has many "women in flight;" each has a past in history and tradition but, for sure, a future of softness and seduction as well.

First vintage: 1997.