Grape blend: Pinot Nero
Aged: 43 months in the bottle on its lees, and still continuing
Alcohol content: 12.5% vol
Acidity: 5 g/l
Residual sugars: 1 g/l
With its very slightly cloudy pale pink hue, Cuvée rosé non filtrato reveals at first glance that it’s no ordinary Metodo Classico wine. This dry (it’s a pas dosé) and “whole” (it’s unfiltered) “champagne” from La Vialla is produced with Pinot Nero grapes in the Oltrepò Pavese, an area of Italy renowned for sparkling wines. The hot summer of 2021 allowed the grapes to ripen from mid-August. After harvesting them by hand, work continued in the winery using just the finest and most fragrant must from the first pressing. Primary fermentation was carried out slowly, at 16 °C, in order to preserve the delicate varietal aromas. The second fermentation in the bottle, during which the perlage forms, took place in spring and lasted for several weeks. At this point, the wine was left for at least 43 months on its lees to allow the bouquet to develop its full complexity. When the right moment arrived, the caps were removed from the bottles, and each one was topped up with some of the same wine – without the addition of sugar – and then resealed with a cork.
Tasting – Colour: opalescent powder pink, with more orangey highlights as it ages. The nose: small red fruits – in particular raspberry – and hints of bread crust, with the typical mineral note of La Vialla’s Metodo Classico wines. In the mouth: austere, crisp and dry, with pronounced perlage “driven” by the presence of the yeasts. It cleanses the palate, leaving a reminiscence of red fruits and brioche.
Wine and Food Pairing – The colour, aroma and flavour of this pink bubbly are astonishing at aperitif time, with cured ham and melon, crostini with sausage and stracchino cheese, or semi-mature cheeses and cold cuts. At the table it’s excellent with fish and shellfish, both raw and cooked, for example salmon with creamy lemon sauce, or seabass with orange, rosemary and olives. And it also goes well with dishes “from the land”, such as ”vitello tonnato” (veal in tuna sauce) or squash risotto.