The Land, the Land, the Land, the Land, Always, the Land

“The land, the land, the land, the land, always, the land,” Luigi Veronelli.

Piedmont

Piemonte translates to at the foot of the mountain. Bordered by both France and Switzerland, Piedmont sits at the foot of the Alps and is surrounded by mountains on three sides. The highest peaks in Italy are here. Summers are hot, winters are cold and wet. This is hill country and the hills are spotted with vineyards. The two best red wine zones in Italy are in Piedmont: Barolo and Barbaresco. Nebbiolo is its native son. However Nebbiolo represents only six percent of the total plantings. It is Barbera which is Piedmont’s most widely planted black grape. Muscat Blanc a Petit Grains, known locally as Moscato Bianco, is the primary white grape and is second only to Barbera in total acreage. Muscat was one of antiquities most revered and important wines. In Piedmont it has found a new and glorious life as Moscato d’Asti.

Ca del Re

Ca’ del Re is a fourteen hectare estate in Santo Stefano which along with Castagnole Lanze and Castagnole Tinella are the best villages for growing Moscato Bianco and producing Moscato d’Asti wines in Italy. Fabio Perrone is the winemaker. He is twenty-seven years old, a recent graduate of the enology school in Alba and a third generation winemaker.

Moscato Bianco vineyards below the winery at Ca del Re, Asti, Photo courtesy of Giuliana Imports

Ca’ del Re which means “House of the King” is the name of the valley where the farm and vineyards are located. This valley is referenced on an agricultural map dating to 1648. The fruit is all estate and all handpicked. Farming practices are sustainable/ organic. The Moscato Bianco vines average between 20 and 50 years. The vineyards are hillside vineyards with south exposures ideal for Moscato Bianco which is early to bud and prone to frost. Late to ripen it requires a longer growing season.

The Calcareous Soils of Asti. Photo courtesy of Giuliana Imports.

Process

Fermentation occurs in autoclave: a temperature-controlled, pressurized, stainless steel tank. Carbon dioxide, a byproduct of fermentation, is captured and dissolves in solution. When the desired alcohol is reached fermentation is arrested by lowering the temperature of the fermentation vessel. The wine is separated from the yeast and rests before bottling. Moscato d’Asti wines are frizzante, about 1 atmosphere of pressure. The EU standard for sparkling wine is minimum 3 bar. The maximum atmospheric pressure in a bottle of Moscato d’Asti is 1.7 bar. Champagne is usually 5.0 - 6.0 bar or six times the atmospheric pressure. The lower atmospheres, 1.0 - 1.7, in a bottle of Moscato d’Asti result in a silky, creamy, texture.

The maximum alcohol for Moscato d’Asti is 5.5 percent. There is a movement to lower the alcohol even further in an effort to preserve Moscato’s signature aromatic compounds. This will be interesting to follow. Moscato d’Asti wines have an effusive and dazzling personality. The best examples shimmer with apples, pears, banana flower and citrus.

The finished wine is stored in autoclave. The Perrone family bottles each order separately and only bottles when they have an order in hand. This guarantees fresh Moscato throughout the year.

Image Courtesy of Giuliana Imports

Moscato Bianco

Muscat, which has its origins in ancient Greece, is one of the world's oldest genetically unmodified vines. It may be the oldest domesticated grape. Early records show it being shipped from the ports of France during Charlemagne's rule, 768-814. It is said Cleopatra drank Muscat.

Muscat is a populous family with over two hundred members. Muscat Blanc a Petit Grains, Italy’s Moscato Bianco also known as Moscato di Canelli, is the well spring, the oldest and noblest of the lineage. This is Piedmont’s oldest documented grape. It was one of the first grapes planted in France.

Muscat Blanc a Petit Grains should not be confused with Muscat of Alexandria. Muscat of Alexandria is the offspring of Muscat Blanc and a black grape variety native to the Greek islands, Axina de Tres Bias. Spanish Moscatel is Muscat of Alexandria as is Sicily’s Zibibbo. Muscat of Alexandria yields large oval berries in a loose cluster. Muscat Blanc has tight clusters of small round berries. Muscat of Alexandria is vigorous, Muscat Blanc is low yielding.

Moscato d’Asti is a wine full of freshness with a heady aromatic of honey, yellow grapes, mango, orange blossom, lavender and rosemary. Below this starry atmosphere is a sea foaming with white peaches, spring flowers, orchard fruits and garden scents, renewed by a fervent and determined acidity. The best bottles are a transport to summer. A savage sap, the dripping ambrosia.

                                                                                                                  

If it isn’t dry, it isn’t serious. This pale rhetoric is finally losing its charge. It’s the millenials, ages 21-32, who are tearing down the walls. Moscato sales in the U.S. increased 80 percent in 2012. Between 2009 and 2011 U.S. sales of Moscato increased over 200 percent. In 2013 Moscato was the third largest seller in the states. However big brand interests continue to dominate.

Asti

Asti derives its name from the Celtic Ast meaning hill. The hills are the Monferrato hills which extend from Piedmont’s capital city Turin to the eastern border of Alessandria. The climate of the Monferrato hills is continental with a Mediterranean influence. The soils are calcareous: chalk and limestone with a high percentage of sand. Grapes grown on sand, a free draining soil, ripen earlier. Ripening earlier they retain more acidity. In Asti the best sites are dedicated to Barbera. In Asti Barbera is king.

Barbera

In Italy Barbera is third in acreage behind Sangiovese and Montepulciano. At the same time the Super Tuscan’s were developing, the 1980’s and 1990’s, Barbera was experiencing a similar transformation. The idea to lower yields, harvest at optimal ripeness, ferment and then age in small oak barrels, first came to Piedmont in the 1970’s. The source was legendary French enologist Emile Peynaud. However it would not be until the next decade that this idea was put into practice.

Barbera is believed to have originated in the Monferrato hills however this hypothesis has yet to be validated. Barbera is planted to some of the best vineyards of the Langhe alongside Nebbiolo but on the less exposed, shadier aspects, where Nebbiolo will not ripen. Barbera ripens two weeks after Dolcetto and two weeks before Nebbiolo. One of Barbera’s defining characteristics is its abnormally high acidity which it is able to retain even when picked late. Barbera d’Asti was granted DOC status in 1970 and DOCG in 2008.

2012 Ca del Re, Barbera d’Asti, DOCG

Sourced from old vines 50 to 60 years on average. The fruit is all estate and all hand harvested from hillside sites with full south exposures. Fermentation occurred in stainless steel as did elevage. Total aging is ten months: six months in tank and four months in bottle.

The 2012 Ca del Re Barbera d’Asti is a fresh style of Barbera which is light in body with plus acidity and gentle, fair, tannin’s. Blood red in the glass, the palate hints of tobacco and raspberry leaf, ruby red cherries, rhubarb, and black pepper. A lifted aromatic of strawberries, raspberries and roses, gives the wine a sense of buoyancy. The focus is on freshness. This is a wine best served with a chill. Treat it as you would a young Beaujolais.