Podere Il Carnasciale· Mercatale Valdarno
About the domain.
There is exactly one grape variety in the world planted to make Caberlot, and it grows here. A chance crossing of Cabernet Franc and Merlot, found and propagated at this single property in the Valdarno hills, vinified nowhere else. Moritz Rogosky carries on what his family began in 1988.
Five hectares on galestro, alberese and sandy clay, between 300 and 400 metres, yields held austerely low at 28 hectolitres. The wine, Il Caberlot, and the rare Selezione, has a floral lift that belongs to no other variety, because there is no other variety like it.
It is bottled only in magnum, which tells you something about the ambition. I import a genuine singularity here, not a curiosity. The 2016 will reward a decade of patience, and I would give it that.
Structured, dark.
Warm year. The Caberlot is dense but retains its varietal lift. The Selezione is extraordinary.
Classical.
Balanced vintage. The Caberlot shows the floral character that makes this grape unlike any other. Harvested 25 September.
Benchmark.
Textbook growing season. The wine is deep, aromatic, still tightly wound. Will need another decade.