AZIMUT

Produced since the vintage 2001, Azimut is an extreme wine, which typically encounters enthusiastic supporters as well as bitter critics. We love it because it is not “international style”. A fresh winter and a warm and dry summer have provided our Merlot with a remarkably significant degree of acidity, which is well balanced by the alcoholic component. A long refining in big Slavonian oak barrels aims to exalt the wine’s charming aromatic complexity.
Our impressions: Its ruby red colour shows a distinct purple hue; intriguing shades of red rose, mint and black cocoa powder enrich its intense aromas of red and black macerated berries. Smooth and mouth filling, it shows good balance between a fully ripe and rich texture and the fresh balsamic sensations on the finish.
 
Type of wine: Red
Appellation: Menfi DOC
Production area: Tenuta Belicello, F.145, p.5
Grapes: Merlot
Number of bottles produced: 9,500
Soil type: Very deep alluvial soil, medium texture
Planting year: 2000
Yield per hectare: 7.5 tons - 1.5 Kg per vine
Planting density: 5,100 vines/hectare
Harvest: Second half of August
Grape-picking: Manual
Winemaking: The grapes were destemmed and crushed. Maceration on the skins lasted two weeks, and the must was fermented in stainless  steel tanks at 25-28 °C
Malolactic fermentation: Completed
Maturation: 12 months. The 50% of the wine in stainless steel tanks, the remaining 50% in big 26 and 30 hectolitres barrels (Slavonian oak)
Refining: 8 months in bottles
Alcohol content: 13.5% by Vol
Total acidity: 5.4 g/l
pH: 3.4
Residual sugar: 3.8 g/l
Taste it with: Baked pork
We also suggest: “Pasqualora” sausage from Camporeale