A magnificent Cervaro della Sala 2005

I want to tell you about another white wine tasted this summer: the Cervaro della Sala 2005. A great wine, created at the Umbrian estate Castello della Sala by Antinori, a wine family now in its twenty-seventh generation across more than six centuries of history.

Marchesi Antinori has been operating continuously in the world of wine since 1385. The company today owns several estates spread mainly across Tuscany and Umbria, in some prestigious wine-growing areas such as Chianti Classico, Bolgheri, and Montalcino. Over time, however, the property has expanded with investments in other areas suited to the production of quality wines, so much so that Marchesi Antinori today represents the largest private wine-producing entity in Italy.

Castello della Sala extends across five hundred hectares, of which one hundred and forty are under vine on clay-rich soil full of Pliocene fossils of sedimentary and volcanic origin. The estate is located eighteen kilometres from Orvieto, near the regional border with Tuscany, close to the Paglia river and the peak of Monte Nibbio. The vineyards are planted between 200 and 400 metres above sea level and are overlooked by the Castello della Sala, which dominates them from its 534 metres of altitude. The Castello, dating back to 1350, was purchased in 1940 by Marchese Niccolò Antinori along with the entire property, consisting of twenty-nine farmsteads as well as extensive woodland. Indeed, the acquisition was originally made for the particular vocation of this terroir for cultivating white-berry grapes – precisely like the Chardonnay and Grechetto used in the Cervaro della Sala blend.

Let us turn to the wine itself, the Cervaro della Sala 2005. First produced in 1985 as a blend predominantly of Chardonnay (85%) and Grechetto, it has quickly become one of the most prestigious Italian white wines, and not only that. The 2005 vintage we are discussing today is the fruit of a very favourable year in terms of climatic conditions. A harsh winter that caused a delay in vegetative growth was followed by a period between flowering and berry set (fruit set), characterised by mild temperatures and scarce rainfall. The warm July accelerated ripening, with the classic colour change of the berries (veraison), a ripening process that then completed from August onwards. At the end of August, the harvest of the Chardonnay began and continued throughout September. The near absence of rain allowed harvest time to arrive with perfectly healthy grapes and an excellent balance between sugar and polyphenolic ripeness.

The grape clusters, immediately after harvesting, were transferred to a refrigerated environment both to avoid unwanted fermentations and to maintain low temperatures during the destemming and crushing phase. To enhance the aromatic profile, the varieties were vinified separately. First, the musts remained in contact with their own skins for 8 to 10 hours at 10°C; they were then transferred to new French oak barriques where alcoholic fermentation took place over 10 days, always at a controlled temperature. The wine then remained on its own lees in barriques for approximately 5 months, during which it also completed malolactic fermentation in the underground cellar beneath the Castello. It was then assembled, bottled, and further refined in bottle for another 10 months. I then purchased the bottle and kept it in my own cellar for several years until this summer, when I decided to open it.

Let me now describe the tasting. The wine presents a gleaming golden yellow colour of particular beauty, intense and crystal clear. The nose is sumptuous, of rare finesse and elegance, with notes of ripe, exotic, and jammy fruit prominently on display. The breadth of the olfactory spectrum then unfolds with mineral hints of flint, chestnut honey, hay, dried fruit, menthol notes, and floral traces of acacia. On the palate the wine is in perfect balance, warm and soft yet at the same time endowed with a savouriness and an acidity that is still lively and vibrant, which would suggest an even greater longevity for this vintage. The finish is very long, with clear retronasal returns of ripe apricot and bitter almond.

Cervaro della Sala has often been compared to the great Chardonnays of Burgundy. The comparison seems apt, even though the contribution of the Grechetto gives the wine an irreplaceable stamp of territorial typicity. We enjoyed this magnificent wine paired with a French cheese, a Camembert de Normandie.