Cirsium is our top selection wine, named after thistle, ‘Cirsium arvense’, a very common wildflower in our vineyards. It is a cru of 100% Cesanese d’Affile grown on a single 1-hectare vineyard block, trained at little bush. It was planted in 1953 by Damiano’s grandfather Guido. The natural yield for the vine is about 4 to 6 clusters.
Harvest is manual and starts when the maturation has reached the optimal level.

Grapes for Cirsium are meticulously selected; any imperfect berry is removed before the crushing. The fermentation occurs naturally in concrete vat and the maceration lasts about 15 days. After the fermentation, Cirsium is racked to foudre, where it ages for the first year. During the second year, Cirsium is racked into the concrete vat and after a total of two years is bottled. Cirsium will age in bottle for one more year, before it is sold.