Ampeleia
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Ampeleia Cabernet Franc 2015

Sale price: $49.95 Regular price:$53.95
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Tasting notes

Cabernet Franc grown at 450 to 600 meters in the Colline Metallifere gives this wine a freshness and mineral precision you rarely find at 14% ABV. The sour cherry, wild herb, and balsamic notes are focused and specific to this rocky, clay-and-marl hillside. Biodynamic farming and minimal-intervention winemaking let the site speak clearly without interference.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
Black CherryWild BerryGarrigueMint
Dry/Sweet:Dry
Wine Type:Red Wine
Wine Style:Medium Body
Grapes:Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese
Farming:Organic and Biodynamic
Vintage:2015
Alcohol:14%
Country:Italy
Region:Tuscany
Appellation:Costa Toscana IGT
Bottle Size:750ml
Sugar Level:Zero Added Sugar
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Important information

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Important Compliance Requirements

FedEx and other carriers we might occasionally use can only deliver wine to customers who are 21 years or older. Someone must be at the address to receive the package; carriers don't just drop a package and leave. They must ensure the person receiving the wine is 21 or older. Shipping to PO Boxes is not allowed.

Re-shipping a Package

If a package is returned to us after three failed delivery attempts, we can only re-ship the wine upon payment of a re-shipping fee, to be determined based on the shipping address and number of bottles. Shipping wine is extremely expensive. We are sorry about this, but we have no other choice. Please make sure there's always someone at the address you enter as your shipping address.

If you'd like to receive a refund for a package that was returned to us after FedEx made three delivery attempts, we can do that but we must keep a $20 refund fee; FedEx charges us a lot of money for returns, unfortunately, I can't stress this enough.

Re-routing a Package

If you'd like to reroute a package after it's been shipped, we can do so for a $20 re-routing fee. We cannot re-route a package across state borders. For any change of address, please contact us as soon as possible, ideally within 1-2 days from placing the order or we cannot guarantee we'll be able to reroute or change your order's shipping address.

Canceling an Order

If you'd like to cancel an order after it's been shipped, we can do so upon payment of a small cancellation fee – the amount depends on the size of the order. Carriers charge us a lot of money to recall a package en-route.

Heat/Frost damage

We are not responsible for heat- or frost-related issues. We offer ice-packs upon request. Please let us know if you think that there could be heat-related issues. If we don't hear anything from you regarding weather issues before an order is shipped, or if you don't request a hold due to the weather, we are not responsible for heat/frost damage.

Placed an order. What next?

1. You will receive an order confirmation email with your order summary.*

2. As soon as your order ships from the warehouse, usually within 2-3 business days, this applies to all shipping rates, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with your tracking information. 2DAY shipping refers to shipping time; we still need 2-3 business days to prepare an order. We need to pick and pack, QA, add printed collateral, and palletize the orders.

3. Please track your package using the tracking service.

4. The carrier will attempt delivery a maximum of 3 times. After 3 delivery attempts, your package will be sent back to our warehouse.**

*Please ensure your email address is correct; otherwise, you will not receive the order and shipping confirmation emails.

**If delivery is attempted 3 times without success, or if you fail to retrieve your package from the carrier depot by the stated deadline, the shipping fee will not be refunded to the customer.

Returns Policy

If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact us at (424) 414-2040 or via e-mail at hello@primalwine.com between 9 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Sunday, we would like to understand and try to solve your concerns. We can offer refunds only as store credit.

Producer profile

Ampeleia

Ampeleia was founded in 2002 by Elisabetta Foradori, Thomas Widmann, and Giovanni Podini after a two-year search across Italy for suitable land. They identified the hillsides around Roccatederighi in the province of Grosseto as having exceptional potential, particularly in the Colline Metallifere. The estate started with six hectares of vines and a few concrete tanks. Today it encompasses 120 hectares of land, of which 35 are planted to vine, with the remainder occupied by woods, olive groves, wheat fields, a vegetable garden, and pasture. The Podini family now manages the estate, with Foradori remaining on the board of directors.

Winemaker and viticulturist Marco Tait has been at Ampeleia since the first harvest in 2002. The estate converted fully to biodynamics beginning in 2009, achieved organic certification in 2012, and biodynamic certification (Demeter) in 2014. Biodynamic preparations including horn dung (Preparation 500) are produced on-site using the estate's own cows, introduced in 2014. Harvesting is done by hand, following the lunar calendar. Tait has identified 54 individual vineyard parcels across three distinct altitudes, each vinified separately before blending decisions are made.

In the cellar, intervention is kept to a minimum. Fermentation takes place in cement tanks and large-format oak casks using native yeasts. For the flagship Ampeleia blend, aging lasts 12 months in those same vessels before at least two years of bottle aging prior to release. The wines are not fined or filtered. The Cabernet Franc vineyards at La Rocca, planted between 1995 and 2004 at 450 to 600 meters above sea level, are the foundation of the estate's top wines.

Wine region

Tuscany, Italy

Alta Maremma occupies the northern part of Tuscany's coastal strip, running inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea. At its heart is the Colline Metallifere, a chain of mineral-rich hills that has been mined since Etruscan times for iron, copper, and silver. Ampeleia's vineyards near Roccatederighi sit within the Colline Metallifere UNESCO Global Geopark, one of nine such sites in Italy. Elevations range from 250 to 550 meters, and the climate shifts from Mediterranean near the coast to cooler and more continental at altitude, with mild winters and a long, dry growing season.

Wines from Alta Maremma are labeled under the Costa Toscana IGT appellation, introduced in 2010 to allow coastal Tuscan producers to differentiate from inland wines. The zone's diverse soils include volcanic tufo, calcareous clay, marl, sand, and pebbles, enabling a wide range of styles. Unlike the more famous Bolgheri DOC to the north, the Colline Metallifere sub-zone has no established DOC of its own, making IGT the default classification for high-quality producers here. International varieties, particularly Cabernet Franc, Grenache, Carignan, and Mourvedre, thrive alongside Sangiovese at altitude.

Frequently asked question

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Signature on delivery is mandatory for wine deliveries. Please make sure someone is at the shipping address to sign for the package.

If applicable, please consider delivering the package to a business address to ensure someone is available to sign for the package.

We also have the option of delivering the package to a Carrier's store for pickup. Please reach out to us to coordinate.

Carrier will try to delivery a package up to three times before returning the package to us.

See here our shipping policy.

If you miss a delivery and a package gets returned to us we have two options:

1) Reship the package right away: due to the very high cost of shipping and returns, we must charge a re-shipping fee to be determined based on package size and shipping destination.

2) Consolidate the returned package with your next order: this option is free of charge and it's the most popular option.

See here our shipping policy.

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