Sweet Bubbles Of Italy!

The Acquesi winery is located in the Piedmont region of Italy.  Their sparkling wine house, Cuvage, utilizes the method of making bubbles that was devised in 1895 by Federico Martinotti.  

The Acquesi Asti Spumante is from the Friuli appellation of Piedmont, and is made from 100% Moscato Bianco di Canelli grapes.  The label is pretty and the wine's alcohol content clocks in at only 7% abv, with a retail price of $17.

This sparkler has fun, frothy bubbles which disappear quickly, so enjoy them while they are there.  The nose is beautiful - peaches, pears, white flowers - very aromatic.  On the palate, a trip to sweetsville awaits.  All the fruit mentioned is there plus a slight touch of Meyer lemon.  There's nothing to think about here - just sip and enjoy.  If you are looking for a crowd pleasing aperitif for holiday dinners, this is a fine choice. 

The Ca' di Prata Brut Prosecco comes from the village of Prata di Pordenone, in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, Prosecco DOC.  This bubbly was also made using the Martinotti method.  The grapes which went into it are Glera (85%) and the remainder is attributed only as "other."  Fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks for this non-vintage wine.  Alcohol tips 11% abv and the retail price is $16.

In the glass, this Prosecco has a pale yellow tint.  The bubbles froth up nicely, but completely disappear almost immediately.  The subdued nose features mainly citrus and minerals, with a slight floral note adding some depth.  The mineral-driven palate is clean and fresh and has a nice sweetness on the back end.  The acidity is lively and adds some versatility.

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Italian Wine From The Grignolino Grape

It's always nice to see that a wine box has arrived through one delivery service or another.  It's especially nice when it means that I get to try a grape which is new to me.  I have sampled more than a hundred different grape varieties during my wine writing life.  I don’t know precisely how many, but here is one more to add to the pile, and I'm happy to have had a taste.

The 2020 Tenuta Montemagno Ruber Grignolino d'Asti is made entirely of the Grignolino grape. The folks at Montemagno say it's "one of the oldest indigenous varieties in the Monferrato," in Italy's Piedmont region.  It was apparently known in the Middle Ages as Barbesino, but the name actually comes from a word meaning seeds, since these grapes are full of them.  Alcohol sits at 13.5% abv and the wine retails for about $14.

This wine has an extremely light garnet color and a nose of flowers, strawberries and earth.  The palate is full of bright red fruit that’s a bit tart, but it's the tannins that will leave you gasping - extremely firm, with a razor's edge acidity.  This is not to say it's unpleasant - quite the opposite, in fact.  It is a very distinctive wine - one that may possibly have to grow on you.  Try it chilled for starters.

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A Pair Of Wines From L.A.'s Oldest Winery

The California wine industry got its start in 1833 by Jean-Louis Vignes, a winemaker who brought vines from Bordeaux to downtown L.A.  Within 50 years, the beautiful climate helped produce a thriving wine industry, one that was bigger than any in the U.S.  Southern California was known then for grapes, not gridlock.

The oldest winemaking outfit in Los Angeles is San Antonio Winery.  They started downtown, but now they own vineyards in Paso Robles, Monterey, and Napa Valley.  They even have an Italian branch on the family tree, which produces Stella Rosa wines.  That winery is located in Piedmont, in the Asti region.

San Antonio Winery was founded in 1917 by Santo Cambianica, a young Italian immigrant who went straight from Ellis Island to L.A. to begin his foray into the American Dream.  In 1933, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles granted Cambianica permission to make sacramental wines.  That move spared San Antonio Winery the fate which befell the other hundred or so wineries in Southern California during Prohibition - a quick trip out of business.  Stefano Riboli soon came to work in the winery and the fourth generation of the family now operates the business.

San Simeon Pinot Noir Estate Reserve Monterey 2018

The Riboli family's Monterey vineyards - Loma Vista and Sarmento - overlook the Santa Lucia Highlands.  The family also has estate vineyards in the Arroyo Seco appellation.  This Pinot Noir has alcohol at 14.9% abv and a retail price of $19.

This wine is medium dark in the glass and gives up the telltale Pinot Noir aromas of black tea and cola.  There are also blackberry notes in the nose.  The palate comes on strong, with dark fruit, cola and a nice acidity.  The tannins are on the gentle side of firm.  It is a bit riper and brawnier than I like Pinot to be, but that's how it is so often in California wine.  

Stella Rosa Golden Honey Peach Il Conte 2017

Although they don't get too specific on the label, this wine was made from Italian grapes, likely from Piedmont's Asti region.  It's a semi-sweet style, leaning more towards the sweet than the semi.  Alcohol is quite low, at 5% abv, and the wine sells for $13.

This fun wine is not to be overthought.  It smells like stone fruit and honey, so it was aptly named.  Rather tastes like that, too, with some light effervescence on the pour.  While it is not a wine that shows much complexity, it is an affable quaff, one that could be welcome in a number of casual scenarios.  5% abv.

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Asti Sweeties For The Summer Porch

Wines with a gimmick generally leave critical wine tasters flat.  Tropical Moscato has a gimmick, and the gimmick is fruit.  The Moscato wine from Italy's Asti region is infused with real fruit, aside from grapes. 

Tropical's wines are made with Moscato grapes grown in vineyards that sit some 200-300 feet up in the hills of Santo Stefano Belbo in Piedmont.  The sparkling effect comes from the charmat method, in which the second fermentation happens in the tank.  Then comes the blending with real fruit.

The mango variety of Tropical Moscato is made from 88% Moscato grapes, 10% mango pulp and 2% passion fruit pulp, while the passion fruit is 95% grapes.  There is now also a strawberry version, which I did not sample.

Both are sweet and fruity on the nose, with a strong floral sense.  They're sweet on the palate, too, and low in alcohol at just 5.5% abv.  The passion fruit bottle shows a nose that's a bit earthier.  Honestly, I knew which was which and I couldn’t really tell the difference.  Both are sweet and simple and don't require much in the way of thought.  I'm guessing they'll be best served quite chilled, outdoors, on a hot summer day.  They will probably make a good base for a summery cocktail or two, with some gin or vodka in the mix.


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Bitters, Bottle For One

When people gift wine to someone they know is a bit eccentric in their tastes, someone who likes to try new things, it can go one of two ways. You might like it a lot.  Conversely, you might not. The wine I am writing about today is in the latter category.

So that I don’t give the wrong impression, I like having friends who will take a chance when giving me wine. It offers me the opportunity to try many things I might not have otherwise sampled. Even when I don’t like the wine, it’s still a learning experience.

Cocchi’s Americano Bianco Aperitif is a Moscato-based wine is abetted by a blend of herbs, fruit and spices developed in 1891. It is said to be a staple in Asti. The Moscato di Asti wine is fortified, then flavored with cinchona bark, along with the other ingredients. Cinchona bark is the original source of quinine, and it’s what gives Cocchi a bitter bite and places the wine in the category of chinati. The wine is laid down for a year before its release.

Since its widespread availability came just a few years ago, it has become a favorite ingredient in cocktails made by craft bartenders, owing to the quinine content. The makers of Americano Bianco indicate that bartenders like to use it instead of Lillet, which they say lost its quinine bite after a 1986 reworking of the recipe. The alcohol hits 16.5% abv.

The Giulio Cocchi website - it’s COKE-ey, by the way - offers this advice: "In Piemonte it is served chilled on ice, with a splash of soda and a peel of orange."  The site also notes that Americano is from "amaricante" an Italian term for "bittered." It is the name of the category of aperitif wines, much like "vermouth." Gentian, the main botanical ingredient, gives it both floral and earthy notes - in abundance, I might add.

It has the color of apple juice and a nose that really shows off the botanicals used in making it. It carries a nearly overpowering aroma that is half floral, half medicinal.  There is a strong earthiness to it as well. The palate won't go unnoticed either, that's for sure. It is a bit shrill on its own. I found some tonic water in the fridge and mixed it - or cut it - and it did tone it down some, although it actually doubled down on the quinine. I feel good that I have probably staved off a malaria outbreak in the household.

I generally like mixer alcohols - like vermouth - on their own, but Americano Bianco won't be on my shopping list unless I suddenly become a craft bartender. And that's not likely.


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