Castello Carboncine
The Land
Castello Carboncine is located in Silea (Treviso) between the mountains and the Venetian lagoon. The farm is sited next to the river Sile, which was used in the old days to transport wines and produce to Venice. This area (now predominantly known for Prosecco production) has been famous for centuries for making great red wines from Cabernet grapes. The Venice heritage is evident from the bottle labels that are based on ancient miniatures of Venitian printers. The soil is extremely rich and made of clay, sand and limestone this translates in wines that have greater intensity and – character, as well as being wonderfully aromatic
The People
The actual wine-house dates back to the 1600 and the legend has it that the Templar Knights, on their way to and from Venice, always made a stop in the area to stock up for the journey (there is still an old Templar chapel within the Carboncine estate). The owners (sisters Isabella and Susanna Bellio Manera) are very proud to preserve the grapes and the styles of wines made in the area for centuries and completely disregards any business common sense or even the DOC rules in such pursuit: that’s why many of her wines have the general appellation IGT Marca Trevigiana. The red varieties are fermented using a copyrighted system created by Isabella’s father that creates slow movements between the juices and the skins in specially designed tanks for 8-10 days right after harvest to slowly extract all the nuances and flavours from the grapes. On top of wines, the estate grows the rare Biancoperla corn (traditionally used to make a delicate white polenta); raises a local variety of buffalo and has a small laboratory in which old “maestro bottaro” (barrel masters) transformed the local wild acacia trees in the wine barrels still used today in the cellar for the white varieties (large Slavonian oak is instead used for the reds)
The Wines
Prosecco Brut DOC
Made with a long-charmat method (6 months second fermentation; compared to the usual 1-3 months)
this Prosecco is as rich and enticing as a young champagne, while keeping its fruity character
Pinot Grigio IGT
Not one of the many watered-down version made for the export markets, this original Pinot Grigio has a coppery tinge and displays amazingly rich flavours and refreshing acidity. It’s also has a nice and unusual longevity (up to 5 years)
Chardonnay ‘Gazia’ IGT
Blend made with a small percentage of a local Riesling variety and aged for 18 months in large acacia barrels made on the premises. Crucially not an ‘oaky’ wine, it’s instead delicate, elegant and ‘Burgundian’ with lovely notes of acacia flowers, honey and ripe apple brought by the wood’s delicacy and seldom found anywhere else
Merano Wine Award 2014
Malbech IGT (note the Venitian spelling ending in ‘ch’) Introduced in the area at the beginning of last century presumably from France, here it creates a rich wine, leathery with flavours of tart currant, black plum and savory acidity. Interesting finish of black pepper and spice
Carboncine Riserva DOC Piave (80% Cabernet Sauvignon; 20% Cabernet Franc) Carboncine’s flagship wine! Selected grapes are fermented for 10 days then aged for 7 years(!) in large oak barrels followed by 2 years in bottle. This wine shows finesse and structure with flavours that keeps evolving in the glass: violet, cedar wood, liquorice and cherry to name just a few. A natural contender to any left-bank Bordeaux…
ISUS IGT Made from a 95 years old vineyard of a rare variety of Merlot with red stalk and smaller bunches. The wine spends five years in two large Slavonian oak barrels located in the lowest part of the cellar, then blended and aged for another year: total production 1200 bottles. 2007 is the last vintage ever produced in 2009 a severe frost – killed the ‘ISUS’ vineyard and, as the experts consulted have not been able to established the exact Merlot clone it was not replanted
