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La Gerla was born from the passion of its founder, Sergio Rossi, a successful businessman in advertising and director of three top European branches of a renowned agency, who falls in love with this both bitter and sweet territory and becomes almost a true local loving his vineyards as if they were his children.


The estate belonged to the Biondi Santi family which achieved one of the best Brunellos of the area from there at the time. Sergio Rossi bought the land in 1976 and completely restructured it respecting its original environment. Shortly afterwards in 1978, he created and marketed the La Gerla brand.


Sergio Rossi passed away in July 2011 and the continuity of La Gerla lied in the Rossi family, specifically Sergio’s wife, Donatella Monforte, who was always by his side and who has brought her managerial experience from the editorial and fashion worlds to the winery.

Terroir

Six hectares of La Gerla vineyards are in Canalicchio, where the microclimate is fresh and dry in the summer allowing for a slow and progressive maturation and, in turn, the development of elegant, intense and quality aromas in the wine.


Right below the little town of Castelnuovo there is a natural amphitheatre of 5.5ha La Gerla vineyards. The soil texture is mostly sandy, silty with prevalent rocky soil, even the limestone component is substantial just as the resulting insulation accentuated by its particular position away from the cold winds from the north and salty winds from the sea. 


Gli Angeli cru, one sole hectare, is located near the little Chiesa degli Angeli, in a favoured position, caressed by light breezes that give healthy air scented with rosemary, bay leaf and thyme. 


The harvest is strictly carried out by hand, after a careful selection of the grapes, which is often a “first” elimination harvest, we then proceed with the real harvest that usually takes place at the end of September. The grapes arrive at the cellar in 20kg cases so that they are not crushed during transport and therefore maintaining the integrity of the grapes that the vines give us.

Wines

The cellars at La Gerla are located mid-hill on the main estate below the town of Montalcino on the side that is known for the tradition of small family-run wineries.


After the selection process, the grapes are separated from the stems and sent to ferment in steel vats where they remain on the skins for about two weeks in order to best extract all the noble and fundamental substances for red wine, the polyphenols. This is followed by a series of complex operations intended to aid in the extraction process. At La Gerla, this happens under the constant supervision of the enologist with the goal of preserving a fundamental quality of the wines: elegance


The old cellar is located under the fourteenth century tower, which, apart from its charm, provides ideal temperature and humidity. It is here where the most prized bottles of La Gerla are stored starting from the first vintage produced in 1976 in addition to the big Slavonian oak barrels.


The new cellar is also underground but of a newer construction yet maintains the architectural and structural features which allow for perfect natural ageing (stone walls and natural air circulation). In this cellar, there are big Slavonian oak barrels (50 and 100hl) where Brunello and Rosso age as well as the French oak barriques (Vosge and Allier) where the Birba wine ages. 

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Barone Trading Company LLC

19700 S Woodland Rd.

Shaker Heights, OH 44122

USA

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