2020 Petrolo Galatrona Melchior (18 liter)

Petrolo is located in the Vald'Arno di Sopra. This part of Chianti, largely covered with forests, has always been cultivated with vineyards and olive groves as the only crops that fit well in this land. An area with a long history and an ancient vocation in the production of great wines. We find traces of this in 1716 when Cosimo III de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, declared with an edict which areas had the most valuable productions of fine wine and quality olive oil. This edict recognized 4 areas, Chianti center (between Panzano and Greve), Carmignano (west of Florence), Pomino (east of Florence) and the Val d'Arno di Sopra (the western and eastern hills along the river Arno between Florence and Arezzo, where Petrolo belongs).

This vocation was confirmed a century later in 1834 by agronomist Giorgio Perrin, owner of Petrolo and member of the Accademia dei Gergofili of Florence. He celebrates Sangiovese and this land, especially that place called Campo Asciutto (now Bòggina), explaining how it was customary at that time to plant "French grapes" in Chianti to combine with Sangiovese, thanks to a soil that manages different varieties.

The estate was taken over in the 1940s by the Bazzocchi family who continued the tradition of carefully producing high quality wines with utmost dedication. The idiosyncrasies of this area add to its value; the land of Petrolo, where vineyards, olive groves and forests coexist and together with the soil form a rich ecosystem that contributes to a perfect balance between the different grape varieties.

The beautiful territory of Petrolo, in a constant balance between nature and the careful work of man, has allowed the creation of great wine and precious olive oil since ancient times.

The Petrolo vineyards extend over 31 hectares in the DOC Val d'Arno di Sopra appellation, bordering the southeastern Chianti Classico area. The vineyards are located at an altitude between 250 and 450 meters above sea level. and grow on moderately loose soil with a different mix of rocks such as marl, sandstone and slate, typical of the Chianti area. They trained about 5500 plants per hectare to produce a very low yield of about 20-25 Hl per hectare for a total of 650-700 Hl of wine.

The composition of the soil, the altitude and the exposure are among the most important elements that help to obtain wines with a distinct character. Everything else is tuned by passion and by the ability to listen to what the earth is learning every day.

San Marco

This 3 ha Sangiovese vineyard was planted over 45 years ago, part of it was replanted in the early 90s. From San Marco we produce the Torrione.

Galatron

The vineyard extends over 3 ha and was planted in 1990. Galatrona is the first Merlot vineyard that Petrolo has planted. The Galatrona wine has been produced from this vineyard since the very first bottling.

ferial

Part of the Galatrona vineyard, it was planted in the 90s and extends over about 5 ha. Made almost entirely from Merlot plants, the vineyard contains a few experiments of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The grapes are intended for the production of Galatrona.

Casariccio

One of Petrolo's Sangiovese vineyards produces for Torrione. Casariccio extends over 2 ha.

Lecceta

One of the winery's oldest vineyards with over 45 years of history. Some of his plants could very well be from the pre-philloxera period. Lecceta is only planted with Sangiovese for Torrione.

Asilo

This vineyard also produces for Torrione, extends over 2 ha and is planted with Sangiovese and Colorino.

Meletana

The 1 ha vineyard with Merlot, located in the area dominated by the Watchtower of Galatrona, surrounded by the estate's woods in a spectacular location.

Boggina

The winery's historic vineyard, planted in 1947 by Gastone Bazzocchi, father and grandfather of the owners who currently run the estate. The vineyard has always been the backbone and heart of Torrione, from 2006 the middle rows are selected for the production of the Bòggina wine, the cru of Sangiovese by Petrolo.

Vigna della Torre (Campo Lusso)

This high-density vineyard extends over about half a hectare, with about 5000 gobelet-trained plants (bush system), just below the old medieval watchtower of Galatrona, just under 500 m above sea level. The vineyard is located on beautiful natural terraces overlooking the Natural Park of the Chianti Hills recently produced for our cru of pure Cabernet Sauvignon, the Campolusso.

Campaccio

Beautiful vineyard of 1 ha planted near the tower of Galatrona in the middle of the woods. Sangiovese, producing for the Torrione.

Pianacci

Experimental vineyard, mainly Sangiovese for the Torrione, planted in collaboration with the province of Arezzo and the University of Agriculture of Milan (followed in particular by Prof. Scienza) and the CRA (Council for Research and Experiments for Agriculture, based in Milan).

Dottore

2 ha of vineyard produces Merlot for the Torrione.

Poggio

Part of the Galatrona vineyard of about 1.5 ha, planted with Merlot for the Galatrona.

We at Petrolo, winegrowers in the Vald'Arno di Sopra, disciples of Nepo da Galatrona, by tradition, culture and education Heraclitian, Dyonysian-Epicurian-Lucretian, Hermetic-Fician, Leonardesque Neo-Platonic and Giorgionesque Neo-Aristotelian, Romantics and Revolutionaries, we believe that God is in all things, and that the earth itself is God; and that everything is fertile, vital, wet, crackling, lush. And that man, through his divine element, is connected to heaven, and occupies in all things and in all places the core of the branched and highly complex configuration of animal and vegetable beings: the heart of that infinite affinity of all things which Universe is -World. And we winemakers, men and women who rush into the future with leaps and bounds, return to the original and the old, believing that the revelation of the world's breath was silent and just being still and listening to nature, as it intermittently appears, occult and enigmatic, shimmering like flashes of memory, leading us to dynamic future ways of wine from within, from top to bottom, from the future to the past. And we believe that wine, a great wine, is the poetic alchemical metamorphosis of nature into culture. And that only by having a light hand and a soft heart, we are sometimes able to bend nature to our feelings, humanize it and make it more beautiful, like a reality imagined in a dream. Wine is nature as dreamed by man, thus enhanced by sentiment; a wine that is great, a great wine, is nature transformed; which only at the moment of drinking elevates itself and its natural essence, as it immediately arouses desire and memories. All nature is in wine, but wine is not just nature. (Luca Sanjust, translation by Burton Anderson)