The first harvest of the “wild” vine in September 2011 allowed us to produce an intense and forthright wine that, also thanks to the dry weather that year, abundantly exceeded 15% (we have only a couple of bottles left in the cellar). The flavor of the wine was so aggressive and the colour so dark that we immediately thought to name it Mamba Nero (like the well known African snake), assisted also by an anecdote from the day we bought the land which we will gladly recount to anyone who comes to visit.
The allure of the wild gave us faith in the product: we knew that many years before those vines produced an excellent Chianti Classico and we did not want to be beaten. The Sangiovese that produces Mamba Nero, however, was too aggressive and we needed to find a way to “sweeten” it, to render the wine softer and more rounded, in short to make it more drinkable.
From here emerged the intuition, the idea and the gamble of planting the new Teroldego and Petit Verdot vines, which, together with the Sangiovese, would generate a truly rounded and mellow wine, “souplesse” as the French would say.
In April 2018 Daniele Innocenti, our oenologist, announced that we were ready, just a little more aging and Mamba Nero would complete its “work in progress” phase and, for the first time, provide a quality wine not only for our table but also for those of fellow diners. We want to think of them in this way, rather than using the cold and commercial term “clients”: we, finally, have the pleasure of offering our wine to others, to share the struggles, strains and fears that have, and continue to, accompanied us.
Mamba Nero was bottled on 13th July 2018 and “offered” to the general market in October of the same year. The 4000 bottles were all sold in one month, only a few remain in the cellar.
Mamba Nero is a brilliant ruby red wine with purple reflections. It carries clear notes of violets and berries. Balanced and well structured to the palate it is, at the same time, pleasant to drink. Giving its best at 5 years from the harvest, it also has an aging potential of over 15 years.
