ColleMassari was founded in 1998 and is part of the Montecucco DOC area in Upper Maremma, a territory which is ideal for the growing of Sangiovese, and situated between the DOCG areas of Brunello di Montalcino and Morellino di Scansano. The first vintage produced was 2000. The estate of Castello ColleMassari is situated in the foothills of Mount Amiata, at 320 m asl and oriented towards the Tyrrhenian coast. It enjoys a very favourable microclimate of consistent ventilation and strong thermal excursions. ColleMassari extends over some 1,285 hectares, with 115 hectares of vineyards, 90 of olive groves and 475 hectares of mixed crop. The remaining area is woodlands and the whole farm is surrounded by a state forest covering some 1,200 hectares. During the harvest, great care is given in selecting the grapes, first on a vibrating table and secondly on a tapis roulant. The fermentation of the Riserva wines will take place in truncated cone shaped vats, holding 10 hectolitres and punching down is manual, whereas the other wines will go through fermentation in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks. The aging, following the type of wine, will take place for 10 to 24 months in barriques and tonneaux of French oak or in barrels of Slavonian oak, holding 40 hectolitres. Bottle refinement will be superior to 6 months with all red wines. Particularly interesting is the vertical structure of the cellars, conceived as a big underground lab of more than 6.000 square metres, based on the principles of bio-architecture, energy saving, the quality of work environment and biodynamical engineering; it develops itself on four levels and it allows the moving of the grapes and of the must without pumps. The agricultural estate is run according to the criteria of organic farming, guaranteed and certified by ICEA. www.collemassariwines.it
