Sant'Agnese. Merlot 'Ubu'

Toscana IGT
Grape: Merlot

Big, fresh, open peppery fruit; the tannins are easy, big and soft, it was made to mature earlier than Paolo’s other wines and this is exactly what has been achieved. 14%

Link to Sant'Agnese Producer page

Named after the fictional King Ubu, a reference to the joyous and benign heart of this wine.  It comes from the vineyard that surrounds the house, the same one that makes the Rubido.  Planted in 2003 with 3 clones of Merlot (181,R3 and a few 347), the land here is flat, the soils are stony clays, similar to the Galestro found in Chianti.  The farm is on a promontory with the sea just 2 miles away on 3 sides, this provides respite for the vines, in the form of constant breezes.

The motley crew of employee, family and friends got up very early to bring in the grapes whilst cool as was possible.  The fermentation was in temperature controlled tanks at 23/24ºC, moving the wine as little as possible to minimise tannins.  Some of the wine is aged in used tonneaux, most in concrete for a year.  Freshness was the target, I would describe this as pretty full-bodied.