Italian Impruneta terracotta amphorae supplier: (220L - 1000L)
Artenova is a family run business that specializes in the creation of winemaker friendly Impruneta terracotta amphorae for winemaking and beverage alcohol. The company is located in Impruneta Tuscany which is the city that gave Impruneta terracotta its name. Every two years, Artenova hosts the infamous cultural wine tasting event, “La Terracotta e il vino” where producers from everywhere in the world come to exhibit and taste wines made in amphora.
Leonardo Parisi and his family have a rich history working with the clay of the surrounding area and through a collaboration approach with wineries around the world, Artenova has established itself as a leading manufacturer of Impruneta terracotta amphorae.
Pottery and the specific use of producing amphorae for winemaking purposes were brought to Tuscany during the Etruscan empire dating back to 700 B.C. The commune of Impruneta represents a unique 200 square km region in the hillsides of Florence between the Ema and Greve rivers that contain open air mines where the local terroir’s clay and rocks contain high percentages of “galestro” which provide resistance to color and temperature fluctuation.
Impruneta clay is also famous for being lower in metals especially iron in comparison to other clays. The amphorae are built following two methods; either in molds or via the Colombino method which is done entirely by hand.
“The ground has all the life you need to give birth to grapes. A vine needs the earth to make a grape. Once you have that grape, you need the earth again to make the wine”
Josko Gravner, Gravner Wines, Friuli Italy
“Godfather of making amphora wines with amphoras from Georgia”
From the sourcing and mixing of the clay to the construction, cooking, air drying, and testing of the amphora, the process is labor intensive and time consuming. The amphora can either be built using the colombino technique that is pictured above to the right where you can only build 30 cm per day. Or for smaller units, the amphora can be built via molds.
ARTENOVA'S STRONG STYLISTIC POINTS
-
Allows for natural temperature stabilization during fermentation
-
Respectful of the wine's varietal characteristics
-
Is porous and has a micro-porosity similar to barriques, therefore allowing your wine to breathe over time
-
Because of high micro-porosity, performs best on reductive red varietals and shorter aging programs
