Sangiovese

Great Brunello made a lasting impression on Robin Day during his first visit to the region in 1989. Since then he has been an enthusiastic consumer of a wider range of Sangiovese wines. The versatility of the variety -- occurring in over 40 DOCs (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) in Italy -- and it's chameleon-like nature make it a fascinating challenge.

It's polymorphic nature means that clonal variation is enormous and its tendency to be very vigorous and overcrop make it a viticultural challenge.

At Domain Day the Sangiovese gets fairly strident treatment. The inter-row space is planted to a special deep rooted pasture mix and crop levels are limited by crop thinning to ensure proper ripening and good colour and flavour development. The first planting of the Mudgee clone will be supplemented by some special small berry selections made by Alberto Antonini and partial rootzone drying will be used to limit the vigour.

Our goal is to make the Sangiovese styles we like to drink; dark cherry-like fruit characters, savoury flavours and a long drying tannin finish.