Vineyards Magazine

Bertinga’s Chianti Classico combines freshness with the richness of the sun

Bertinga is proud to present the 2023 vintage of La Porta di Vertine, the Chianti Classico DOCG made in the ancient village which gives it its name.

The beating heart of this wine is the Vertine vineyard, where altitude, slope, and extraordinary light all play their part. Three hectares in size, with a perfect south-facing exposure, this vineyard is a sun trap, giving life to a vibrant wine and  providing energy and verticality at the same time. The vineyard rows climb up, in fact, to 500 meters above sea level, an elevation that demands precision viticulture and agronomic management that pays careful attention to the slopes.

The balance of La Porta di Vertine comes from the complexity of the terrain, where galestro and alberese soils coexist in perfect harmony, creating a soil rich in skeletal structure that gives the wine a solid framework and a pronounced minerality.

This profile applied in the 2023 vintage too, despite a spring marked by heavy rains that required meticulous care in the vineyards. In fact, it was precisely the high altitude and good ventilation of the vineyard that allowed fungal rot to be kept at bay, and kept the grapes healthy. Then it was the summer heat, which was not overwhelming enough to cause problems with drought, and ideal day-to-night temperature fluctuations, that ensured steady ripening, culminating in the harvest at the end of September.

“This vintage has given us a wine of disarming freshness,” says Luca Vitiello, the winery’s Commercial Director. “We chose to let the terroir speak out directly, using concrete tanks to preserve that sunny vibrancy typical of our 500-meter altitude and our Sangiovese grapes.”

The grapes were hand-harvested into 10-kg crates and subsequently scrutinised on the sorting table. Vinification was in concrete tanks, where the wines were also aged for the next 12 months. After bottling, the wine was given another 12 months’ bottle age before release.

Now released on the market, La Porta di Vertine 2023 features a new label that continues to respect the historic image of this Chianti Classico, but also now reflects the elegance of the “Bertinga style” found in the glass.