The latest vintage of Tenuta Luce's flaghsip wine marked by concentration and balance
MONTALCINO, Italy, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Tenuta Luce has released the 2021 vintage of Luce, their iconic wine that perfectly reflects a commitment to excellence and embodies the very soul of the Montalcino denomination.
"The 2021 growing year was marked by a splendidly radiant sun, and the wines certainly bear its generous imprint," remarked Tenuta Luce Winemaker Alessandro Marini. "There is no doubt that the power and energy that Luce 2021 now emanates signifies extraordinary longevity in the cellar."
A blend of Merlot and Sangiovese grown in meticulously-selected vineyards, Luce combines the elegant structure classic to Sangiovese with Merlot's signature seductive roundedness. Luce represents the epitome of Tenuta Luce's interpretation of its Montalcino terroir, with 249 hectares of remarkable biodiversity in the heart of the Val d'Orcia Natural Park.
Harvest after harvest, its fermentation process and subsequent assemblage of the cuvée are determined by the characteristics of the grapes in each growing season, while always showcasing that felicitous equilibrium between Sangiovese and Merlot that has been a consistent hallmark of Luce.
These elements combine to yield a wine that appears an intense ruby red and releases complex aromas of ripe, dark berry fruit, in particular wild blackberry and mulberry, with delicate hints of sweet violets and smooth notes of mixed spice. The palate immediately reveals the full character of the wine, one of outstanding elegance, body, and superb equilibrium of all components. Its silky tannins expand to power a near-endless, delicately-spiced finish.
2021 HARVEST
A mild, dry winter ushered in the 2021 season, with just a brief snowfall in early February. March saw above-average temperatures, which encouraged a slightly-early bud break between the end of the month and early April. Moderate weather conditions were interrupted on 8th-9th April by an abrupt, severe freeze that affected all Tuscany; the result was a slow-down in vine development through late May. Thanks to a general rise in temperatures from June on, the vines recovered their normal pace, with flowering in the second and final third of the month. Hot, dry summer conditions followed, until mid-August, when two providential rains lowered temperatures and replenished groundwater reserves to optimal levels, just at the moment crucial for the start of the ripening stage. September was textbook-perfect, with abundant sun and significant day-night temperature ranges that favored high concentrations of polyphenols and aromatic precursors in the berries.
TECHNICAL NOTES
The Merlot and Sangiovese grapes were picked in September, and the musts were fermented separately over 12 days in tulip-shaped concrete vats at 28oC. The wine then macerated on the skins for 22 days, after which it matured a minimum of 24 months in oak barriques, in 80% new and 20% once-used.
TENUTA LUCE
Tenuta Luce lies southwest of the town of Montalcino, in the heart of the Val d'Orcia Natural Park, a rural landscape sensitively re-designed by man in the pre-Renaissance era and declared by UNESCO in 2004 a World Heritage Site. This extraordinary corner of earth, historically renowned for its world-class wines, hosts the 249 hectares of the Luce wine estate, set among woods and olive groves, with 92 hectares of vineyards: a lightly-inhabited, near-pristine ambiance rich in biodiversity. Its brilliant sunlight; crisp air and well-ventilated conditions, gift of its unique exposure; and its diversity of soils and elevations all combine to make Tenuta Luce a truly privileged place, where the equilibrium of all these components is jealousy respected and protected. That respect is reflected in the winemaking as well, where every step in the process is performed with meticulous care, to preserve the nonpareil harmony achieved in the vineyard. The fruits of this enlightened philosophy and unmatchable terroir are the Tenuta Luce wines: Luce, Lucente, Luce Brunello, and Lux Vitis, the culmination of an ambitious project begun in the early 1990s aimed at obtaining the fullest expression of the Montalcino zone yet with an utterly distinctive individual style.
Media Contact
Noemi Mengo, Colangelo & Partners, (646) 624-2885, [email protected]
SOURCE Tenuta Luce
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