The cellar

Winemaking

Once in the cellar, the bunches are unloaded in a special tank and then sent from here to fall, in a continuous and constant quantity, to the destemmer.

Destemming and pressing

With the destemmer, we obtain the separation between the stalks and the berries. At the same time, the pressing of the latter takes place, from which the juice contained in the peel comes out.

Fermentation and maceration

As result of the pressing, we obtain the must. We then put it into stainless steel tanks at controlled temperature, where fermentation and maceration can begin. During this phase, which can last from 10 to 20 days, the must remains in contact with the skins of the grapes, which give the wine its color and body.

Pumping-over

To simplify the fermentation process, three to four daily pumping are carried out. The pumping-over operation consists in letting out the must from the bottom of the tank, at the same time, the wine is pumped back from the top, through external pipe. This way, the must comes into contact with the skins floating on the surface. The reassembly is performed "to the air"; in this case, the must, before entering the external pipe, is dropped into an open container, in order to favor a good oxygenation.

Racking

The next step is racking. Each tank is emptied, and the must, which has now become wine, is transferred into another tank. The pomace (grape skins soaked in wine), is sent to the wine press to extract the residual liquid. The "flower" must obtained from racking is udes for the production of our bottles wines, while the must obtained from pressing is intended for the production of our bulk wine. After pressing, the pomace is collected and sent to the distillery.

Malolactic fermentation

The wine will now complete the malolactic fermentation, which its completation is usually expected by the end of December, after which the wine is ready for aging.

In Fattoria Pogni, during winemaking, samples of must first and of wine then, are repeatedly taken. This practice is essencial to an accurate organoleptic and chemical analysis that verifies the wine quality accordingly to the many regulations we have to respect, among which the Chianti DOCG denomination.