![]() Made of Moscato Bianco grapes grown in and named for the vineyard whose white marl and lighter texture differentiates it from the rest of brown-marl Canelli. In 1989, historical Piemonte producer Michele Chiarlo's Nivole made its grand entrance into the United States. One member of that zonation project was Luigi Coppo who heads his family winery there, makes their Moncalvina Moscato d’Asti from grapes within the subzone, and oversees the estate’s tract of underground cellars. Top, and original, areas here are zones like steepest Santo Stefano Belbo (bio-minded I Vignaioli di Santo Stefano have grown here since 1976, southern exposure sorì in the highest vineyards), Calosso, Castiglione Tinella, Santa Vittoria d’Alba (an official subzone for Moscato d’Asti and Vendemmia Tardiva), Strevi (official subzone for Moscato d’Asti only), and Canelli backed by Moscato mentions from the 13th century and which recently became the third Moscato d'Asti (only) subzone for reasons connected not just to land but also clone (the CVT AT 57 which has its origins here) and technology (Canelli’s underground " cathedrals," miles of subterranean cellars in which its wines have been aged for centuries, are "the culmination of ancient technical expertise" according to protecting body UNESCO). So, first think of Moscato d’Asti in the hilly places that the best wines come from. While it makes up about one-third of Asti’s production, it is also the category vastly most admired in the United States. In this article I am exploring only Moscato d'Asti (like the spumante above, it is an example of the Asti-specific version of the Martinotti method: made sparkling from one fermentation only, of must held from harvesttime at just below 0☌, then brought up to around 16☌ to set off fermentation in autoclaves, where it must age at least one month, set this time to 2.5 bars for the softest fizz and cool-stopped at about 5% abv to leave at least 120 grams of residual sugar) simply because I prefer its complex richness and not so simply because of the following things it can tell about this place and its moscatisti, devoted Moscato d'Asti growers. The three that I won’t be covering here but that are worth seeking out as well are: metodo Martinotti spumante (traditionally made Dolce at around 90 grams of rs 7 abv, 5.5 bars of pressure) a very few metodo classico (around 12 months on lees, about 5 grams rs, and that in the few I've tasted something hoppy shares space with focused white and green floral, creamy, gentle persistent bubbles) and the rarely made Vendemmia Tardiva of Asti's Acqui and Nizza areas whose tradition of it comes from higher temperatures and therefore sugars there. ![]()
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