94+ pts Wine Advocate
Drink Date: 2024 - 2038 A blend of Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the Castello di Ama 2021 Haiku presents an immediate and vertical set of aromas that are delivered with the concentrated intensity you can expect of this classic vintage. There is an inky quality to this wine with black fruit and blackcurrant. Additionally, there is a sweet versus sour theme that imparts both savory spice and summer-ripened fruit. Earthy tones and rosemary essence appear on the medium-acidity close. Published: Jul 25, 2024

• 50% Sangiovese, 25% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc
• Alcohol: 13.5%
• Altitude: 1375 – 1640 feet
• Exposure: North-West/South-East
• Soil: Clay and limestone
• Clonal selections: Cabernet Franc 214, Merlot 181 & 343
• Fermented using only indigenous yeasts at in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks from 86–91ºF, each variety separately, manual pumpovers.
• Fermentation for 22 days using only indigenous yeasts for Sangiovese, 26 days for Merlot, 23 for Cabernet Franc
• Wines racked, back to stainless tanks for malolactic fermentation
• Wine blended and aged 12 months in 24% new, fine grained barriques, the balance in 2 year old barriques

During the planting of the second section of Montebuoni vineyard, completed in 2001, we decided to experiment with the renowned international variety, Cabernet Franc, which has never been used in Ama before. We carried out a careful analysis of the soil and the climate and realized that Cabernet Franc really would give good results. In 2001 we planted on two small plots, identified by the estate’s land register numbers 84 and 85, respectively of 1,47 ha and 0,47 ha, for a total surface of 2 hectares with the clone 214, – a popular variety in Bordeaux for its production of cellar able wines (“vins-de-garde”) grafted onto rootstock 110R.