Monte Bernardi - Michael Schmelzer
Monte Bernardi is situated in Panzano in Chianti, a small village in the heart of the Chianti Classico, Tuscany’s original winemaking region.
Producing wines with the greatest expression of the local terroir, ultimate quality, and a harmony between our land and the environment.
Our estate wines are made only from our grapes; sourced from the vineyards we farm. We have great affection for Sangiovese, Chianti Classico and the distinctness of Panzano. Every decision we make is with the aim of creating wines which are true to our land.
We farm our vines organically and use traditional farming practices that are also used in biodynamic agriculture. This allows for the greatest expression of terroir, ultimate quality, and harmony between our vineyards and the environment.
Our methods involve maximizing the quality of the fruit that comes from our vineyards, harvesting by hand at optimal ripeness. The fruit is de-stemmed and lightly crushed directly into small, stainless steel or oak fermentation tanks. The grape must is held 3 to 5 days in pre-fermentation maceration in a temperature controlled condition; thereafter the temperature is allowed to rise to a maximum of 30°C for alcoholic fermentation. During this time the ferment is regularly hand plunged. After 20 to 27 days, the wines are pressed and put into wood where they undergo the second spontaneous fermentation, malolactic, in the Spring. Depending on the desired style, varying sizes of oak are selected for maturation. After maturing 8 to 30 months in oak, the wines are bottled without filtration or fining. All fruit is sourced from Monte Bernardi and only indigenous yeast and bacteria are used. The minimal addition of sulfites is kept to the minimum consistent with ensuring the longevity of the wine’s natural flavor and color. In short, the result of this labor of love is pure wines which express the essence of Panzano.