2012 Saffredi, Maremma Toscana IGT, Elisabetta Geppetti

Saffredi di Maremma Pupille

Fattoria Le Pupille is a Morellino di Scansano estate, run by the charismatic Elisabetta Geppetti who abandoned the university halls for the vineyards and the winery in the 1980s.

Along with Antinori’s legendary winemaker, the late Giacomo Tachis (creator of Sassicaia, Tignanello and Solaia, to name just three) and Elisabetta’s mentor, Fredi, Elisabetta embarked on a process of renewal and innovation at Le Pupille which led to the creation of Saffredi, to stand alongside their Morellino di Scansano and Morellino di Scansano Riserva.

First created in 1987, the blend has varied over the years, but a perfect balance of the classic Bordeaux grape varieties has now been set and the wine is made from 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot, aged for 18 months in French oak barriques, 75% of which are new.

Fattoria Le Pupille has been boosted by the appointment of Luca D'Attoma as consultant in recent years.

Cabernet Sauvignon

The most famous red wine grape in the world and one of the most widely planted.

It is adaptable to a wide range of soils, although it performs particularly well on well-drained, low-fertile soils. It has small, dusty, black-blue berries with thick skins that produce deeply coloured, full-bodied wines with notable tannins. Its spiritual home is the Médoc and Graves regions of Bordeaux where it thrives on the well-drained gravel-rich soils producing tannic wines with piercing blackcurrant fruits that develop complex cedarwood and cigar box nuances when fully mature.

The grape is widely planted in California where Cabernet Sauvignon based wines are distinguished by their rich mixture of cassis, mint, eucalyptus and vanilla oak. It is planted across Australia and with particular success in Coonawarra where it is suited to the famed Terra Rossa soil. In Italy barrique aged Cabernet Sauvignon is a key component in Super Tuscans such as Tignanello and Sassicaia, either on its own or as part of a blend with Sangiovese.