Eighth vintage for the eighth Tenuta Frescobaldi: "Gorgona". Every year the wait is great to discover and taste in June the CRU born on the last prison island in Italy established in 1869. Vermentino and Ansonica which since the 2012 harvest is produced together with the prisoners of the penal colony who in exchange ask for the dream of a other possibility to rewind the tape of one's life: learning a trade, spending time in a profitable way, believing in tomorrow. An "attractive and wild" wine that tastes of redemption, imbued with hope and desire for revenge which is a riot of emotions.
"Be proud, inside each bottle there is your effort and your desire for redemption" - these are the words that Lamberto Frescobaldi, President of the Marchesi Frescobaldi always says to the prisoners of the island of Gorgona, who adds - "This project makes me every year more and more proud, here in Gorgona there is everything in the scents and flavors: the love for the island, the care and passion of man, the influence of the sea and the extraordinary environment that give life to an inimitable and exclusive wine symbol of hope and freedom. In a word there is the "Essence" of this land and a project that never ceases to give emotions "
The 2019 season on the island of Gorgona was characterized by a winter with rainfall below the seasonal averages. This rainfall intensified during the spring period, especially during the month of May, which was cool and mild at the same time. The months of June, July and August were warm with isolated well-placed rain showers to avoid water stress risks for the vine. The grapes ripened perfectly and arrived healthy at the time of the harvest. Harvest that began with the harvest of Vermentino in the first week of a September, which stood out for a beautiful day-night temperature range, ideal for slow and optimal ripening; same reason why the Ansonica grapes were harvested during the last week of the month.
Gorgona 2019, attractive and wild at the same time, stands out for a bright and bright straw yellow color, with bright golden reflections. His is a complex and wide bouquet but never intrusive. Notes of white-fleshed fruit open; immediately follow the sensual and enveloping aromatic herbs typical of the island such as rosemary and helichrysum. The presence of the sea, in addition to enhancing the aromatic component, gives the wine a distinct minerality and freshness. The balance between acidity and flavor is incredibly harmonious, as is the extraordinary entrance ... soft and enveloping. The finish is persistent but always of a persuasive elegance.
The label is also special and exclusive, closed to remember the inaccessibility of the island and once opened reveals all its beauty. It wants to be an "extraordinary edition" in order to tell a different aspect of the island every year. The Gorgona 2019 label describes its marine biodiversity, being the island in the middle of the Pelagos Sanctuary: a wonderful marine area born from the agreement between France, Monaco and Italy. The small stretch of sea that surrounds the island contains a surprising and varied marine fauna and is frequented by almost all the species of the Cetacean Sanctuary; from the smallest to the largest such as dolphins and even the majestic sperm whale.
The production of Gorgona is limited and organic: only 9,000 bottles of white based on Vermentino and Ansonica. A wine that in 7 years has conquered international markets, from New York to Japan, and above all the hearts of those who have had the good fortune to taste it.
THE VISION
Frescobaldi for social was born in August 2012, even before being a wine, it is a multi-year project that stems from the collaboration with the Directorate of the penal colony, whose aim is to allow prisoners to have a concrete and active experience in the field of viticulture . With the supervision of the agronomists and winemakers of Frescobaldi, the prisoners have brought back to production and cultivated a hectare of vineyards on the island, to which has been added over the years 1,3 Ha planted by Frescobaldi.
THE PROJECT
The Gorgona project was born in August 2012 thanks to the collaboration between Frescobaldi and Gorgona, the only penitentiary island in Europe. Here the prisoners spend the last period of sentence, working in contact with nature to develop professionalism that facilitates their reintegration into the working and social reality.
Around a small vineyard, in the heart of an amphitheater which overlooks the sea, the project begins, the aim of which is to allow prisoners to have a concrete and active experience in the field of viticulture, with the collaboration and supervision of agronomists and Frescobaldi winemakers. Gorgona Rosso sees the light with the 2015 harvest, from some rows of Sangiovese and Vermentino Nero, grown in organic agriculture and then refined in terracotta jar. Today the vineyard has an area of almost two and a half hectares, one of which is initial and a second planted in 2015. From this Vermentino and Ansonica vineyard, Gorgona was born, the result of the uniqueness of the place, the work of man and the symbol of hope and freedom.
THE TIMES OF THE PROJECT
In May 2013 the first harvest of Gorgona (2012) was presented at the DAP in Rome and in September of the same year the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano also received the magnum number "0" as a tribute by Lamberto Frescobaldi himself.
In June 2014 Frescobaldi signed a collaboration contract with the prison administration for 15 years, and hired two prisoners who work in the vineyard in Gorgona and who are directly salaried by the company.
In February 2015 the prisoners, coordinated by the oenologists of Frescobaldi, planted another hectare of Vermentino on the island with the aim of involving more people in the work in the vineyard and obtaining (in 4 years) a better quality wine. The hectares of vineyards therefore become 2.3 Ha.
In June 2018 the sixth harvest of Gorgona, "Gorgona 2017" is presented. The production is 9,000 bottles and the label is dedicated to the fauna present on the island. A perfectly acclimatised harmonious biodiversity: from the wild rabbit, to the peregrine falcon, to the herring gull that have chosen Gorgona as a place to nest.
THE PARTNERS
Andrea Bocelli who wanted to make the text and sign the label of the 2013 vintage.
Simonetta Doni of Studio Doni & Associati , among the very few specialized international graphic studios
in the design of wine labels, every year it participates by donating the graphic appearance of the wine, interpreting, with a highly specialized team with specific cultural and artistic sensitivity, the characteristics that make the project and its island unique.
Giorgio Pinchiorri , patron of the Enoteca Pinchiorri, one of the best known Italian restaurants in the world, participates in the project by choosing to contribute, with its exclusive cuisine, to promoting the food and wine heritage of the island of Gorgona.
Argotractors , an Argo Group company founded in 2007 with the aim of creating a world-class tractor center, has donated a vineyard tractor for the activities to be carried out on the island.
