2018 Indaco, Tenuta Sette Cieli, Tuscany, Italy

Tenuta Sette Cieli

Tenuta Sette Cieli transcribes as “Seven Skies Estate”, fittingly named due to the amazing panoramic views and huge skies surrounding the 16 hectares of vineyards and picturesque cantina. This trailblazing producer sits apart from the other producers of Bolgheri, both stylistically and geographically. The estate looks over towards the original Sassicaia vineyard, above Bolgheri’s fertile plains and Tyrrhenian Sea beyond. The penthouse of the region, sitting at 400 metres altitude, their organic vineyards are envied by every winemaker in the region. The site benefits from much cooler temperatures, up to 10 degrees Celsius cooler during the summer months, which results in longer, later harvests – up to one month after the fertile plains below. This gives a very different character of wine to what is expected of Bolgheri; fresh, finessed, energetic and crunchy, further enhanced by the ancient soils of the hills, which are filled with calcareous boulders and crystallised minerals giving vibrant salinity to the wines.

Wolves and wild boar roam free up in these hills, as all the vineyards are enclosed by untouched wilderness, and the deep wooded hills of the Monteverdi landscape. Originally bought as a retreat for the Ratti family, it was only planted with vines in 2001. Today, it’s under the control of superstar winemaker Elena Pozzolini, who has taken this estate to new heights. She crafts the wines with immense skill, fierce passion and sensitivity. These are not rich, blockbuster Bolgheri wines; they are nimble, detailed and elegant, standing out against the richer styles of the region. Although many of their vineyards are technically outside the Bolgheri DOCG, due to the altitude, these are some of the most exciting wines in the area. For Elena and Tenuta Sette Cieli, only the sky is the limit.

Bolgheri

Bolgheri is a new DOC in the coastal Maremma region which first rose to prominence during the 1970s with the emergence of the so-called Super Tuscan wines like Ornellaia and Sassicaia. These new ventures had rocked the DOC establishment by using high proportions of Cabernet Sauvignon, opting out of the DOC system and relabeling their wines as simply Vino da Tavola (table wine). 

Having won universal acclaim and exchanging hands for unprecedented prices (higher even than Tuscany's finest examples), the authorities relented and awarded Bolgheri its own DOC. The actions of the Super Tuscans inspired a generation in Italy, even if some of the wines here have lost a little of their lustre since.

Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.

In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.

In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and  Australia.