Studying terroir to improve the wine
Tenuta La Massa is located in Panzano in Chianti (FI) in a hilly environment characterised by altitudes between 315m and 460m a.s.l. The company’s territory is about 45 hectares, and it is crossed by the Borro della Massa, which has deeply affected the modeling of slopes, with shrubby vegetation and natural arboreal. On the north-western side of the company originates the Pesa, which denominates the homonymous valley. The soils that characterise the farm area have different geological formations. Among those that can be found are:
- • Undifferentiated Complexes: these are mainly composed of green or grey marly clay and limestone with frequent insertions of fine quartz-calcareous sandstone and siliceous limestone.
- • Chaotic Complex: entirely decomposed masses consisting of blocks or bundles of grey and greenish marly limestone layers, incorporated in a clay matrix.
- • Marl of San Polo (Oligocene): this is yellowish and grey marl with a sharp fracture
- • Boulder (Oligocene): these are sandstones of quartz origin with calcite and phyllosilicate, alternating with shale clay.
Starting from the year 2002, La Massa started a research project that characterises the their company on the “terroir”. This study allowed to obtain a detailed soil map that describes its morphology, so as to be able to perform the right cultivation techniques. Thanks to the installation of seven weather huts, it is possible to interpret, year after year, the climatic trends and thus to make the most appropriate harvest choices.
During these years, a complete renovation of the vineyards took place, as they converted old low-density plants to plants with a density of 6250 vines/ha. The vineyard reaches about 25 hectares with the varieties of Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, with exposure between the south-west and the south-east, all reared in spurred cordon and that yields around 800/900 gr. per strain.