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<strong>ITA</strong>LY<br />
– DISCOVERY –<br />
The vineyards of Isolabella della Croce, located in a hilly area in Loazzolo,<br />
are particularly suited to growing Moscato<br />
The Vinc’ e Voij wine bar overlooks the vineyards at Vinchio Vaglio<br />
and is the starting point of the Nests’ Trail<br />
is done at controlled temperatures, and once the wine<br />
has reached 5 degrees of alcohol, it is arrested using<br />
refrigeration. Before proceeding with sterile bottling,<br />
tartaric stabilization is carried out. Fining takes one<br />
month in the bottle before the wines are released for sale.<br />
These wines show outstanding balance between residual<br />
sugar and a fresh, savoury perception due to the area’s<br />
particular soil and weather conditions.<br />
VINCHIO VAGLIO<br />
Vinchio Vaglio is a co-operative founded in 1959 based<br />
on an idea by 19 vine growers from two small towns,<br />
Vinchio and Vaglio Serra, in the upper Monferrato,<br />
today the core of the UNESCO areas. The co-operative<br />
represents 192 families of vine growers who take care<br />
of 450 hectares of vineyards every day. Although they<br />
mainly grow Barbera, they view Moscato as an essential<br />
link with the region. The soil composition is mainly<br />
calcareous and sandy in Vinchio and predominantly<br />
clayey in Vaglio. The co-operative combines very<br />
traditional vineyard management techniques, almost<br />
heroic due to the steepness of the vineyards, and hand<br />
harvesting, with modern practices such as the use of<br />
temperature-controlled steel tanks and a high-tech<br />
bottling line, protecting the environment thanks to the<br />
installation of solar panels.<br />
In this area, almost all the farmers traditionally had<br />
a few rows of Moscato to make a few bottles of sweet<br />
wine, sometimes unfiltered, designed to be drunk<br />
at Christmas and on holidays. The evolution of this<br />
tradition is precisely what links Vinchio Vaglio to<br />
Moscato d’Asti Docg and Asti Docg. The inclusion<br />
of members from neighbouring small towns and the<br />
increase in the areas planted to Moscato, well-suited to<br />
the less sandy and more clayey soils in those areas, led<br />
the winery to adapt and undergo modernisation for the<br />
production of Valamasca, an excellent Moscato d’Asti<br />
Docg, and subsequently also to sparkling winemaking<br />
with Asti Docg.<br />
88 SPRING 2021 GILBERT & GAILLARD - THE FRENCH EXPERTS ON WINE
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