This Monday (18/03/24) I was at the Royal Theater in Turin for Alta Langa 2024 new wine release, now into its 6th year.
Table of Contents
Region and Winemaking
Alta Langa is a traditional method sparkling wine regionin Piemonte of northwestern Italy, hilly and at 44 degrees north latitude, with vineyard altitude ranging from 250 to 6-700m.
Wines here are made from French varieties, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The grapes are harvested by hand only and loaded into flat, open-top bins, where grapes do not pile up to avoid fruit crush. Grapes are then whole-bunch pressed in the winery; juice obtained this way is pure and less pulpy.
After base wine is made, some goes to barrique maturation before enduring the 2nd fermentation in the bottle. The final sparker will go through extended lees maturaion.
All the winemaking practices above are inherited from the Champagne tradition.
France is to the west of Piemonte, influencing its culture deeply since time immemorial, winemaking is no exception.
But Alta Langa further stipulates that all its traditional sparklers must be vintage. This is different from Champagne, which can be non-vintage
The biggest difference between non-vintage & vintage wine is that NV wine is a blend of base wines from several years to even out vintage variations for a coherent house style of the winery, which is supposed to be recognisable by taste. As for vintage wine, as the name suggests, is to show the characteristics specific to that year.
Wine Styles and Sweetness Levels
Alta Langa traditional sparkling wines include:
- Blanc de Noirs
- Blanc de Blancs
- cuvée
- rosé
3 sweetness levels are:
- Pas Dosé: only wine is added post-disgorgement, containing 0-3 grams of sugar per litre
- Extra Brut: both wine and suagr are added post-disgorgement, containing 4-6 grams of sugar per litre
- Brut: both wine and suagr are added post-disgorgement, containing 7-12 grams of sugar per litre
Each wine style can be at one of the 3 sweet levels; it’s all up to the winemaker.
Wine tasting
65 wineries were present on Monday, among which I picked for tasting:
- Banfi
- Bel Colle
- Bera
- Borgo Maragniano
- Coppo
- Deltetto
- Ferraris Agricola
- Gancia
- Pecchenino
- Piazzo
- Tenuta Carretta
- Vite Colte
I tasted almost all the wines they brought. I must say every one of them was of decent quality. If you’ve never tasted Italian traditional method sparklers and want to give them a try, choosing Alta Langa DOCG just can’t go wrong.
Now for my wine tasting experience on Monday:
- Colour: Blanc de Noirs, Blanc de Blancs and cuvée are straw; rosé is the color of pink roses
- Aromas: apple, Asian pear; also a hint of jasmine in some wines I tried; in some rosé, I also got strawberry; only in those on-lees for long, like the 100-month Riserva Cuvée of Banfi, did I get the bread and biscuit aromas; in the 2019 Brut of Pecchenino, aside from apple and Asian pear, fresh cut grass was also sensed on my nose, very delightful
- Fine bubbles
- Flavours: basically consistent with the aromas; the 120-month Riserva Cuvée of Gancia left a very gentle, almond-like bitterness at my throat, which I happened to like
- Structure: very high acidity, for which the body felt lighter; those on-lees for longer were fuller-bodied
- Finish: medium to long
A little Reflection on sweetness:
The high acidity made the least sweet Pas Dosé so dry I felt that the wine flow taking an emergency brake on my palate, almost resembling tannic astringency. If this sensation is your cup of tea, Pas Dosé is your wine. But the 2020 Pas Dosé of Pecchenino tasted rounder than other wineries’, more like an Extra Brut in my opinion.
The sugar added in an Extra Brut post-disgorgement countered the acidity and balanced the structure, making it my favourite sweetness level that day.
The texture of Brut was even rounder, but in the face of Alta Langa’s high acidity, even with a slightly higher sugar content, many Bruts remained refreshing on the palate. The 2020 Brut of Vite Colte was one of those.
To Conclude
Market-wise, Alta Langa traditional method sparklers are mainly sold within Italy, meaning huge potential in overseas markets.
If reading this post makes you tempted for a sip of Alta Langa, the bad news is that you might not find it, because the export volume is still relatively small, but the good news is that the Alta Langa wineries do tour and wine tasting in situ.
Next time when you come to Italy, don’t forget to plan an Alta Langa winery tour. Then you’ll get to taste the refreshing and delicious Alta Langa traditional method sparkling wine.
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