Coste del Vivo Rosso No 1 Toscana

A wonderful blend of Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, this wine is drinking superbly now with sumptuous dark fruit aromas (dark cherry, forest fruit) spice and slight old cedar notes indicative of its 12 months in oak. This wine is great value for the relatively low cost and quality of product.

Producer

Focusing on sangiovese and cabernet franc, vinifying each plot separately to give him as broad a pallet of options as possible for blending. Very light filtering and minimal sulphur is as much interference as Toby’s wines see. For several years he worked with the excellent organic Brunello producer Casa Raia. Then, in 2013, he took on the role of winemaker Hortulanus, implementing a similar winemaking philosophy to Casa Raia’s to revamp the Hortulanus range. This is when his dream began to take focus, amid the vineyards of Seggiano on Monte Amiata.

Toby works from a selection of clay, limestone and schist-based vineyard parcels around the villages of Seggiano and Castel del Piano. Each plot is vinified separately, providing Toby with a broad pallet of options to blend the best possible expression of this special niche of Tuscan terroir.

He uses organic and biodynamic techniques in the vineyard, working as close to nature as possible from vine to barrel. Very light filtering and minimal sulphur is as much interference as these wines see.

These parcels are well protected by mountains to the south and south-west, which provide shelter from the summer rain storms and a climate that is sunny and dry with cool evening breezes. These conditions help to develop grapes (his focus is Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese) rich in sugar, flavour, tannin, colour and acidity, producing naturally concentrated, elegant wines that age superbly while also drinking well when young.

Coste del Vivo Rosso No 1- Hay Wines