2017 G.D. Vajra Freisa Kyè

Freisa is a noble grape, rare and fighting for survival. It’s been part of the history and identity of Piedmont since ancient times, Freisa is one of the closest relatives of Nebbiolo, as demonstrated in 2004 by Professor Anna Schneider of Turin University. G.D. Vajra Freisa Kyè is the tribute to Freisa and its great and wild personality.
The fruit comes from our San Ponzio vineyard in Barolo, which sits at an altitude between 390 and 410m, on clay soil. The perfect time for harvesting Freisa is determined by alternating warm autumn days and cool nights; in general this happens in the second half of October, 20-30 days later than the average. The removal of almost all stems, the most acidic part of the fruit and with the greater charge of green tannins, is essential. The must undergoes a fairly long fermentation, which allows the integration of grape tannins into the wine, followed by a malolactic conversion (equally important for this variety). It is matured for about 12-18 months, depending on the vintage, partly in large Slavonian oak casks and partly in barriques, to give the necessary balance to the wine.
This was the second vintage we brought the picking forward a little, to coincide with the early Nebbiolo harvest, as opposed to picking after all Nebbiolos. It was the first time we used 5% whole clusters in the ferment to counterbalance the richness of the vintage. This was also the first vintage (in recent memory, at least!) that we used submerged cap on approximately 50% of the fruit. Finally, thanks to extra space we’ve created in the winery, this was the first vintage we could age in the bottle for much longer. This allowed us to bottle the wine earlier than usual to capture more drive and zest.- Giuseppe Vaira