Ugo Contini Bonacossi was a man who gave a lot to the wine world, bringing its attention to a denomination which was almost unknown for too long: Carmignano.
After his death in 2012 the Contini Bonacossi sons immediately thought of dedicating a wine to him, alongside a million other good thoughts they had of ways to pay homage to a person who was unique rather than rare, and that is how the new label arrived in the Capezzana household.
Infact the Ugo Contini Bonacossi label was born in 2013, a Toscana IGT (certified from the 2015 vintage) made entirely with Sangiovese from the Viticciana vineyard, one which Ugo was particularly fond of.
Produced in an extremely limited quantity of only 4000 bottles Ugo Contini Bonacossi has already stolen the hearts of many journalists and restaurateurs loyal to Ugo but above all to the Sangiovese made in Carmignano.
The splendid trio offers three different glasses with three wines each very diverse from the other, a true expression of how the territory is the king which recalls the energy and soul of Ugo.
The 2013 vintage was a rainy year followed by a sunny summer. It was a year with a long vegetative cycle and in order to manage the vines vegetation it was necessary to use a lot of manpower. And it was the year in which Capezzana returned to using indigenous yeasts not selected ones, and in which Franco Bernabei took over direction and consultancy of the final blend of the Capezzana wines.
Optimum alcohol content and polyphenolic parameters were reminiscent of the 80’s, the 1981 and 1987 vintages in particular according to Filippo Contini Bonacossi.
The 2015 vintage was characterised by a lot of rain in the winter and spring and a lot of sun in the summer. A hot year in Tuscany and in Carmignano but never worrying in relation to arrested vegetation or blocking maturation. No burning by the sun’s rays and by the 23rd September all the Sangiovese was in the winery, beautiful to see and ready to be turned into must. The season was clement over almost all of Europe in a heterogeneous way right to the end. Filippo said in an interview on Instagram that it reminded him of the 1975 and 1985 vintages.
The critics maintain that with a slightly higher pH value it could have a shorter life but that remains to be seen.
According to the technicians and top oenologists the 2016 vintage is a triumph of beauty, tested by the best analytical parameters possible it’s rich in alcohol content, has a low pH of only 3.5 points and truly intense in uniformity of colour which is mainly dictated by the anthocyanins. A wine that could really be immortal thanks to the technology over the last few years and the hearts of the winemakers at the foot of Montalbano.
A not very cold or wet winter, sunny summers but cool nights rich in thermal movements that preserve the acidity of the wines and rain at the right time together consecrate one of the best Sangiovese vintages in the last 50 years. Filippo concludes that it reminds him a bit of the 1990 vintage, with beautiful days and the extreme balance of all the wines components.
At the end of the live tasting on Instagram there’s time to go into depth about the damage done by the severe frost which hit the Italian peninsula not only on the 7th and 8th of April.
Unfortunately the Sangiovese which is slightly more precocious than some international vines will pay the price, some buds have restarted but in the lower and more open areas the damage could be up to 30-40% of both grape quantity and quality.
