Red wine - Pieropan - Amarone "Vigna garzone" Valpolicella Docg

San Lucio is the first large vineyard identified on the Regaleali Estate, from which the first and subsequent editions of Rosso del Conte were born. It covers about 7 hectares, 5.5 of which were planted in 1959 with mixed Perricone and Nero d'Avola vines, while a portion of about 1.5 hectares was planted in 1965 with Nero d'Avola alone. The altitude is 480 metres above sea level, with a south-southeast exposure. The soil is yellowish brown, loamy-sandy, partly calcareous, with a slight presence of skeleton; the pH is slightly alkaline (8.5). Regaleali's oldest vineyard usually confers medium vigour to the vines, a prerequisite for balanced ripening of red and medium-late grapes. It is able to withstand the influence of extreme climates, whether hot or cold, and produces a few grams of grapes per plant, with incredible constancy in quality. It is bush-trained, the oldest and most widespread form of cultivation in the semi-arid regions of the Mediterranean. The planting density also remains classic, at 4,400 vines per hectare, obtained by arranging the vines at a distance of 1.5 metres from each other. At Regaleali, short pruning is adopted for red varieties, with three/four spurs of two buds.
Short pruning is often combined with the presence of a brace to tie off the shoots that develop from the spurs.
The two varieties, Perricone and Nero d'Avola, have a similar vegetative cycle: they are fairly late grapes, ripening on average between late September and early October. A faithful expression of the terroir from which it comes, the high hills in the centre of Sicily, on an aromatic level Rosso del Conte never exceeds over-ripe notes, while guaranteeing full phenolic ripeness. Exuberant, vibrant, energetic in its youth, with ageing it develops a velvety tactile relief, without losing tone and taste progression. In its long history it has known various stylistic variations, particularly in the ageing technique: chestnut barrels, Slavonian oak, small French oak barrels. All the while maintaining its peculiar identity.

San Francesco is the vineyard that represents the emblem of our work at Regaleali, the incessant research and innovation of our team to improve the quality of our wines. Planted in 1985 by Lucio Tasca, it was divided into two different portions due to the nature of the soil. The higher part, on the south-eastern slope of the Canalotto valley, at an altitude of between 532 and 585 metres, was reserved for Cabernet Sauvignon. The soil is made up of sand and sandstone of variable grain, the texture is partly clayey and calcareous, with a slightly alkaline pH (8.3). It is a moderately deep soil, in which the development of the vine root system is abundant in the first 60 centimetres and more moderate up to one metre deep. It has a normal organic substance content and is rich in minerals such as magnesium and potassium, while it is poor in phosphorous. The vines are planted at a spacing of 2.60 by 1.1 metres (3,490 plants per hectare). The training system is espalier, with short spurred cordon pruning. Cabernet Sauvignon is a late variety, with a very long vegetative arc. The grapes are hand-picked by expert vine-dressers who are able to select the bunches already in the vineyard, and the harvest takes place on average between mid-September and the first ten days of October.