Montalcino: a paradise for history, culture, wine. Here Gogu Cacuci, as in Dante’s Paradise, has found his “IX Heaven.”
In 2017 Gogu Cacuci, a doctor, entrepreneur and wine enthusiast, is looking for a wine estate in Montalcino to acquire. He meets the owner of a small winery located in Località Paradiso, already present in the area since 1964. The two have very different backgrounds and perspectives for the future. But the values are in common, so much so that the transfer of ownership will also include the delivery of a tradition and a deep respect for the land. Thus, that farm of a little more than 6 hectares changes owner and name, and embarks on a new history as Paradiso di Cacuci.
The farm is located on the northwest side of Montalcino. A About 370 meters above sea level, next to the Montosoli hill. A soil with a complex geological structure with the presence of clays, sandstones and shales. Magmatic rocks and a dense forest influence the microclimate with temperatures that tend to be cooler than elsewhere in the area. The wines that are born here therefore have all the necessary elements to express freshness, elegance, finesse and great aging potential. With the new ownership they will be translated into reality thanks to techniques innovative production techniques but with a philosophy all but interventionist and, above all, retaining asoul that harkens back to the past.
The new owner is immediately committed to developing that project with which he wants to breathe new life into the winery. Determined to express the essence of the relationship between the grape and the land from which it springs. The first concrete moves therefore tend to the enhancement of wine production by putting in place significant investments in the vineyards. Five hectares dedicated to Brunello and one to Rosso di Montalcino. In the vineyard, herbicides and pesticides are banned; in the cellar, minimal intervention is used in winemaking.
The team
The team to which the winery is entrusted includes winemaker Giuseppe Gorelli, a profound connoisseur of the territory and a student of that master of Sangiovese who was Giulio Gambelli, from whom he had learned that “the less you intervene on the wine the better”. He is the figure who fully aligns with Paradiso di Cacuci philosophy. The vineyard is taken care of by the agronomist Roberto Lamorgese, committed among other things to the project of transition to organic. A restrained team that respects the company’s sense of craftsmanship, with Francesco Ditta who is in charge of foreign sales and public relations, giving a lot of space to direct contact with consumers for whom there is a tasting room, which is located in the rooms that were once used as stables, and 4 rooms dedicated to agritourism.
Annual production averages around 25 thousand bottles (with fluctuation depending on the vintage) between Brunello di Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino Riserva and Rosso di Montalcino. The production of Brunello is based, after fermentation in steel, on natural static and malolactic decantation, and the aging, which takes place in large Slavonian oak barrels, even if it goes on for a longer period than the one established by the specification is free of forcing, so that in the glass the wood is very neutral and delicate.
Brunello di Montalcino IX Sky
In the production stands out the top of the range, the Brunello di Montalcino IX Cielo. A wine designed to represent the highest expression of the territory of the northwest, which sums up and enhances the entire winery philosophy. The grapes come exclusively from the 9 rows of a 40-year-old vineyard. The following are produced with the utmost attention to non-invasive practices, about 2 thousand bottles a year. It ferments in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, with delestage (which advantageously replaces classic pumping over) and prolonged macerations, matures for a minimum of 36 months in Slavonian oak barrels, accompanied so far without filtration. A quest, that of the winery, to bring back to the wine the immediate characteristics of the fruit. To enhance the freshness and particularity of immediacy, but that can also ensure its long aging.
Respect for tradition is the stylistic hallmark of the Paradiso di Cacuci and minimally invasive winemaking methods represent its philosophy, to bring to the glass the ultimate expression of northwest Montalcino.
