Casata Mergè, Lazio, Italy
Casata Mergè’s old vines in the autumn.
Casata Mergè, Lazio, Italy
Since Ancient Roman times the viticultural area of Castelli Romani, overlooking Rome, has always been considered an ideal terroir for planting vines and making wine. A tradition still deeply rooted in the area of Frascati and Monte Porzio Catone, home to the family estate Casata Mergè. Founded in 1960, the estate’s 19 hectares of vineyards, stretch along the historic Via di Fontana Candida, the heart of Frascati Superiore docg.
Casata Mergè’s 5 hectares of heritage old vines were planted in 1970 to a rare form of trellising known as the GDC training system, a system first pioneered in Geneva in the state of New York. The peculiarity of this training system, of which there are are no more than 4000 hectares registered within the entire vineyard surface of Italy, consists of a double espalier, featuring a horizontal expansion of the vine, characterised by short pruning.
The main grape variety of Frascati, Malvasia puntinata, originates from an ancient aromatic vine of Greek origin and derives its name from the Greek port of Monemvasia, located on a tied island off the east coast of the Peloponnese, surrounded by the Myrtoan Sea. Malvasia puntinata is grown almost exclusively in the Castelli Romani area and is a particularly fine biotype of Malvasia. The exposure, the sunny climate and the breeze from the nearby Tyrrhenian Sea are the natural habitat of Frascati vines, planted on soils of ancient volcanic origin that are particularly suited to the cultivation of white grapes.
The soils, predominantly of volcanic origin, derive from the cementing of ash which give rise to deep, permeable, sandy soils, some with yellow silts, some mixed with calcareous and siliceous pebbles and bluey grey clays, are what characterize the sapidity, fullness and mouthfeel of the wines. The additional low yields (91 hl/ha) contribute to the wines’ particular balance and complexity. The wine produced from this 5-hectare vineyard is a Frascati Superiore Riserva Sesto 21 DOCG, a blend of indigenous Malvasia puntinata, Malvasia di candia, Bombino bianco and Trebbiano. A wine of noble tradition that defines the history and culture of the Castelli Romani.
“The genetic heritage of our Frascati Superiore Riserva Sesto 21 label is the very reason why we want to keep this vineyard alive, despite the costs and difficulties, because we want to be able to produce a typical wine of the area that only such old vineyards can express, while at the same time using up-to-date modern technology,” says Massimiliano Mergè. “The idea of having such old vineyards to maintain allows us on a daily basis to understand and study the vine in its continuous evolution, which helps us to better understand the development of the younger vineyards.”
For more information visit:
casatamerge.it
@casata_merge