Vintage
2020
ABV
13.6%
Wine Type
Red Blend
Wine Style
Still
Wine Description
Cosa Nostra. It translates literally to “our thing," which is what we're aiming to achieve with wines under this brand, by experimenting with alternate varieties and interesting blends.
"Il Capo" (the Head) is a blend of 90% Nero d'Avola and 10% Negroamaro. Both varieties were whole berry fermented in open pots and inoculated with an expressive yeast suitable for Mediterranean varieties. Wine was pressed to 1 and 2-year-old barrels and underwent natural malo-lactic. The wine was matured on full solids for 18 months. No fining agents were used and only single filtration to bottle. Vegan friendly.
Winemaker's Bio
Adrian Santolin’s beginnings in the wine industry started when he began working, at an early age on the family vineyard and orchard, established by his grandfather, an Italian immigrant from a small town near Castelfranco in the Veneto region, who arrived in Australia in the 1930s.
Born in Australia to Italian parents, Adrian was fully immersed in his family’s Italian culture growing up – and wine, of course played a big part of that heritage.
Moving to the Hunter Valley in 2003 saw Adrian’s commencement into winemaking. Starting out as a cellar hand, within two years he had worked his way up to Assistant Winemaker. A six month break in 2006 saw him work a vintage in Italy and spend some time with his extended family.
After marrying Rebecca in 2007, together they moved to the stunning Yarra Valley region of Victoria and over the next 5 years Adrian worked at various wineries and vineyards gaining extensive knowledge of Pinot Noir production, vineyard management techniques and most importantly, learning and appreciating the art of minimal intervention winemaking which would become his mantra for the wines he would aim to one day create.
“Minimal intervention makes for a complex wine with great finesse. It makes the varietal, regional and vineyard characters of a wine stand out, and that’s exactly what you’re looking for. It’s not what you put in, it is what you leave out.”