Tasting Note
Out from wine fridge at 11°C, amber-coloured with lees sediments
NOSE pre-tasting: sweet scent flocking at nose tip says Yakult, plus some apricot and cat-pee-like lily, brine, before pronounced whiteboard marker storms out for a good couple of minutes, then back to brine
PALATE: off-dry, slight fizz, first flavour imprint on palate together with the sweetness feels exactly like Yakult; acidity solid but not showy; uplifting body with a silky mouthfeel; tannins and flavours split up with the former confined at mid palate and the latter at tongue root and throat, leaving a somewhat hollow sensation on the bulk of the palate; tongue tip numbing (probably from the fizz) finish with a lovely hint of lily
NOSE post-tasting: extremely concentrated, sugared, legumey “amanattō” aroma plus roses scented with rose perfume
NOSE empty-glass: cat pee, lily
How this wine came about?
Back in 2022, an acquaintance working at Velier told me about La Stoppa. First tasted Ageno at Cantine Isola in Milan Chinatown. Don’t recall it to be on the sweet side of dry. Then paid a visit to La Stoppa in March 2023. Bought this bottle there. Been keeping it in my wine fridge ever since.
Why today?
This bottle was supposed to be had with a friend, but she’s been busy lately travelling and I’ve no idea when or if I will be seeing her anytime soon, and room just needed to be made for other newcomers, so…
Sorry, P, will open something as nice when we see each other again.
the Nitty-Gritty
Malvasia di Candia Aromatica grapes grown from 25-year-old vines on loamy, clayey soils with no fertilisers or herbicides used. Skin maceration for 4 months in inert vats of stainless steel or concrete, then maturation in large (40 hectolitres) wooden barrels before bottling with no filtering or SO2 added.
La Stoppa is located in the Piacenza Province in Emilia Romagna, a region below Lombardy and above Tuscany. Vineyards of La Stoppa are at approximately 250m asl facing mainly south and southwest. Heavy rainfall in certain months can cause fungal diseases, erosion, waterlogging and more, making viticulture, especially in the mode of organic and biodynamic, which La Stoppa adopts, challenging.
Ageno?
Ageno is the surname of the lawyer, Giancarlo Ageno, who had first bought this property and started making wine where it is now La Stoppa. Then owner Elena Pantaleoni’s family took over in 1973.
with Food?
Lovely on its own, and can pair pretty well with dark chocolate, believe it or not.
