Bibemus climbing every mountain. Yodel ay ee ooooo.
On Wednesday 20th March, the Bibemus gang and their fellow Italophiles gathered together to taste a mountain of Barolo from Monforte d’Alba. Fourteen of them, to be precise. Special international guests included Massimo Benevelli of Piero Benevelli wines and Robert Bava and his daughter Francesca from Cocchi Americano.
Have you ever thought about the risk involved in making a joyful beverage like Moscato d’Asti? Surprisingly for such an easy-drinking wine, it is one with a fair amount of winemaking technique involved. Ladies and gentlemen, Moscato d’Asti is not your standard, sweet, fizzy drink. This is a more serious matter. The trouble only just begins with the bubbles…
As a means of providing a brief introduction, Moscato d’Asti is a low-alcohol sweet white wine made from the Moscato grape (grown in the Asti province in Piedmont of northern Italy). The sweetness does not come from adding sugar. Instead, it is provided by the natural sugars remaining from halting the fermentation. I prefer not to get overly technical, so here is a short tale from the 2008 vintage when I worked in a small town called Castagnole delle Lanze at La Spinetta winery.
It was the beginning of September and the Moscato vineyards were almost ready. La Spinetta has been making Moscato d’Asti since the late 1970’s, when Giorgio Rivetti took control of his father Pin’s grapes and purchased more from other vineyards to create what was to become one of Italy’s most celebrated Moscato d’Asti wines.
The first week patiently waiting passed by with ease with the team’s attendance at a party in Tuscany to celebrate the opening of their winery in the typically Italian named town of Casanova. Upon completion, we herded the team back to Piedmont where we began the harvest, or la vendemmia as the Italians call it.
Who says it’s too early to drink wine before 9am?
Clearly if you want to be involved in this Galli Scholarship you better get your act together!
"'Just living is not enough,' said the butterfly. 'One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.'" - Hans Christian Andersen
La Donna del Vino 