With this wine, Ca’ del Bosco’s intent was to rediscover and re-establish a traditional red grape blend of the area, with a preference once again for Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Carménère over Cabernet Sauvignon. A journey into the past to exalt the personality and fruitiness of Merlot, the elegance of Cabernet Franc and the roundness of Carménère. Cabernet Sauvignon is there to provide the much-needed backbone and thus impart balance and longevity. Two years are necessary for this wine to strike the right match between harmony on the nose and balance on the palate. This wine is the product of accurate grape sorting and expert winemaking, in full compliance with the Ca’ del Bosco Method. The grapes are hand-picked in 8 different vineyards, where they are placed in small crates on which a code is immediately stamped, just before they are cold-stored. Each bunch is selected by expert eyes and hands, and then goes through our exclusive “berry spa,” a special whirlpool-like wash for grape bunches, consisting of three soaking tanks, followed by thorough drying. Then the clusters are transported over the maceration vat, where they are destemmed, allowing the berries to naturally fall into vat. This eliminates the need for traditional pumping systems, which cause the skins to break and develop unwanted herbaceous hints. In the 2018 vintage, skin contact lasted 18 days for Merlot and Carménère, 19 days for Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Alcoholic fermentation and maceration were controlled by accurately managing temperature and punching down the grape cap several times. The mass was mixed daily, using a pair of elevator tanks, with the wine on the bottom of the vat drawn off by gravity. The tanks, known as flying tanks, take the wine up to the top of the vat and pour it back in forcefully to submerge the “cap”. Nothing more natural and effective to gently extract color and tannins. The wine is finally drawn off and, while still warm, it is placed in small oak barrels. Only after malolactic fermentation – in mid-winter – is the wine racked and assembled into different product lots. The “Corte del Lupo Rosso” is thus created, and will continue ageing in oak and stainless steel for approximately 22 months, followed by gravity bottling, which is done in a most natural manner: thanks to our innovative long-nozzle filling tubes, the wine will rise from the bottom without lamination or shaking, and will not suffer from oxidative stress. No sulfites are added at this stage, to guarantee integrity and wholesomeness. Finally, each bottle is marked with a unique code, to ensure traceability.