Prelius - Castelprile

Cantina e Vini

Prelius is the name given by the Romans to the ancient costal lake of Prile. Already with the Etruscans the land surrounding the lake was a flourishing community dedicated to fishing and to the commerce of salt. The costal lake used to lay from the Argentario peninsula to Castiglione della Pescaia, separated from the sea by a sandy strip that is now the marvelous pine-wood of Grosseto. Prile, where our vineyards are located, is 2 miles away from Castiglione della Pescaia along the slopes of the hilly amphitheater surrounding the ancient lake. During the iron ages (X-VII century bc) there were already five Castles defending the Prile costal lake one of which was the Castellacio di Prile located in our estate. Of the five castels the Castellaccio di Prile was the most important with big walls and rised 15 meters above the earth level by an embankment. In the Castellaccio, Etruscans, Romans and barbarians have been working the iron. The Benedectines monks (as it often happens in successful wine stories) started the cultivation of the land along the Prelius lake on the slopes of the Castellaccio di Prile in the proximity of Castiglione della Pescaia. Nowdays of the Castellaccio di Prile the ancient walls and other traces are left but in the folk tradition it is still very well known. Along its slopes vineyards still florish today.

As in Volpaia, all our the vineyards, as well as the olive groves and the rest of the estate, are farmed organically thanks to the special microclimate of the Estate characterized by constant day and night breezes that keep the moisture low therefore creating an environment that isn't suitable for the development of fungis the main pathogen of diseases such as late blight, oidio* and grey mould. The most dangerous threat of the region is the Tignoletta*, a very little insect whose larvae break the skin of the berry in the maturation process to eat the pulp and therefore leaving the berry vulnerable to mould. We control such a threat in organic agriculture with the innovative natural technique of the sexual confusion, by releasing in the vineyards pheromones that confuse the male who therefore don't find the female to reproduce. To respect the environment also the fertilisation is done just with organic manure.