Volume 34: The Marcucci Edition

Illustration by Anna Vu (@goodwinecrapdrawing)
Cantina Furlani
2020
Macerato
Pinot Gris
Trentino, Italy

This color! The grapes for this fizz come from a 30-year-old plot and are 350 meters above sea level. And before you think this is a rosé wine, think again. As the grapes are macerating for 15 days, the skins of the Pinot Gris variety will release some red color and light tannins. After a light press, the wine continues fermentation in steel tanks during winter until spring when it is bottled. Then, with some frozen juice from the same harvest, the second fermentation will be done in the bottle. This is a fluffy cloudy drink perfect for all the summer things. It greets you with ripe white peach and morphs into a better version of a rhubarb-grapefruit soda. It works with many lighter summer things like salads or even as a complete meal pairing.

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Vini Conestabile della Staffa
2019
Monaco Spiritoso Orange
Trebbiano Montanaro, Trebbiano Toscana, Trebbiano Giallo
Umbria, Italy

Orange and fizz? Yes, even though this is a very light fizz. Using three different kinds of Trebbiano, Danilo lets some very native grapes shine in this perfect skin contact wine. After the harvest in September, the grapes macerate for ten days in small vats before they are pressed. After that, they continue to ferment in fiberglass and are refermented in the bottle and age for another year. After leaving it open for a couple of minutes, the farm notes go into the background and make room for some apricot and herbal notes. Drinking it, you will feel transported back to Umbria with some fruity saltiness and a proper tea-like tannin grip. All this makes it a perfect accompaniment for all your spicy food needs..

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Sassara
2020
Essotico
Corvina, Rossanella, Rondinella, Molinara, Fernanda, Moscato, Trebbianello, Trebbiano, Garganega, Tocai
Veneto, Italy

The label says red-orange wine, but what is it? It’s a co-fermented wine with 30% red grapes and 70% white grapes. The vines are pretty old and the grapes were hand-harvested in September. They macerate for 10 days in a fiberglass tank and are pressed directly afterward. They then age for another half a year in stainless steel to show off only the grape aromas and not overpower the flavors with any wood. Showing off its Veneto coolness with some pomegranate and wet stone on the nose. In the mouth, it’s a little blood orange and later more of a fruity cold brew tea. This is structured enough to work well with any barbecue or even dessert if you give it some time to breathe.

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