Lacrima di Morro d’Alba “Rubbjano”
Nine acres at Montignano, planted in 1994, facing southwest toward the Adriatic. Piergiovanni Giusti keeps this parcel separate from everything else he makes, and bottles it under its own name: Rubbjano.
Lacrima is Italy’s most floral red grape, and most of it is made to be drunk young and fragrant. This is the argument for the other case. Three weeks on the skins, then ten months in small French oak and six more in bottle — long enough to build structure, gentle enough that the flowers come through unharmed. Dried rose and violet, black cherry, tobacco, a thread of vanilla. Velvet across the palate. Thirty-four hundred bottles.
Appellation: Lacrima di Morro d’Alba DOC
Type: Red, dry
Varietal: 100% Lacrima di Morro d’Alba
Color: Deep ruby red.
Bouquet: On the nose it has an ample and persistent bouquet, with notes of withered roses, violets and nuances of vanilla.
Palate: Notes of black cherries and tobacco with very gentle tannins. The mouthfeel is soft, velvety and well structured.
: 13.50 %.
: 18° C (65° F).
Food Pairing: Cured meats and salumi, aged pecorino, truffle risotto, red-sauce pastas, grilled meats, roast rabbit, lamb.
Production Area: Montignano (Ancona).
Vineyard: Vigneto di Rubbjano, a single, 9-acre vineyard.
Soil: Clay-based, with medium density.
Elevation: 160 meters (520 feet) a.s.l.
Exposure: Southwestern.
Age of Vines: Planted in 1994.
Training System: Guyot (original planting). New plantings changing to spurred cordon.
Vineyard Density: 2,000 per acre.
Yield: 3,8 tons per acre.
Harvest: Early October.
Vinification: The gently pressed grapes undergo a slow maceration. Fermentation in stainless steel tanks at controlled temperature with pre-fermentative and post-fermentative stages of 20-22 days.
Aging: 10 months in small French oak barrels, six-months in bottle before release.
Production: 3,400 bottles.
2009 Lacrima di Morro d’Alba “Rubbjano” – 92 Points – Robert Parker WA (#205 Feb 2013)
"The 2009 Lacrima di Morro d’Alba Rubbjano is flat-out delicious. It boasts stunning depth, with endless layers of blue and black fruit that saturate the palate. The higher-toned, exotic aromatics of Lacrima di Morro d’Alba are very much present, but they are balanced by the sheer richness of the fruit. This is a fabulous wine from Giusti.” ~A.G.
2008 Lacrima di Morro d’Alba “Rubjano” – 90 Points – Robert Parker WA (#195 Jun. 2011)
“The 2008 Lacrima di Morro d'Alba Rubbiano has more than enough fruit to balance some of the quirkier elements of this indigenous grape. The aromas and flavors flow together nicely in this textured, exotic red. French oak gives the wine an additional dimension of richness and volume that works well here.” ~A.G.
