We are proud to announce that our Metodo Classico 38 months Alta Langa DOCG 2014, has been awarded 5 spheres in Sparkle 2019.

This is the first in its kind that awards Italian sparkling wines, and again this year our Spumante has been quoted as one of the best Italian Spumante’s. On Saturday 1st December we will be in Rome, at the Westing Excelsior Hotel in Via Veneto, to receive our award and the rest of the afternoon will be open to the public for the winetasting.

We invite you to come and join us and taste with us our Alta Langa DOCG 2014.

The High class Sparkling wine world met up on Sparkle Day, on the 1st December in Rome, at the Westin Excelsior Hotel, where the Sparkle 2019 edition was presented; the guide to the best dry Italian Sparkling wines. Our Metodo Classico 38 months Alta Langa DOCG 2014 won 5 spheres in Sparkle 2019.
The first in its kind that awards Italian sparkling wines, and again this year our Spumante has been quoted as one of the best in Italy.

Two moments of the press conference – in which Mary Cacciola and Andrea Lucatello, the pair from Radio Capital, accompanied Francesco D’Agostino with the prizegiving of the 5 spheres, to the top wines of the new edition, carefully selectioned by Cucina & Vini and a widespread tasting of over 200 different wines and sixtytwo different wineries.

This year the guide chose 791 labels from all over Italy, from more than 2000 tastings, and of these 2000, 70 wines were awarded with 5 spheres. The highest possible award.

“The Sparkling wine guide” – says Francesco D’Agostino, director of Cucina & Vini and curator of Sparkle – has become a vademecum for those who want to come closer to the sparkling wine world.

Obviously the areas which are most suitable for sparkling wines is Franciacorta, Trento, Alta Langa, Veneto, Alto Adige, Oltrepo Pavese and Roero, and these produce and guarantee the top level sparkling wines. These 70 awarded wines can be without a doubt, compared to the best Sparkling wines in the world. The consumption of Sparkling wines in the world is increasing as can be seen by recent figures from all over the world.

Wine and Health. The curing powers of wine

The worldwide health organization after 20 years of research on the theme of wine and health have fully demonstrated its many beneficial virtues noted since ancient times and have put together scientific results which have been reassumed in the volume, “The curing powers of wine” published recently by Red Edition, written by Giuseppe Sicheri, student of Chemistry and oenology.

Other important scientific researches which conferm the positive effects of wine on the organism have been conducted since 1991 by Curt Ellison, head of the department of epidemiological and prevention medecine at Boston University. In particularly, the American researcher states that in healthy people which consume regularly wine at table, the risk of cardiopathy is reduced by 25%; the worlwide health organization reached the same conclusion. The substances which offer the greatest positive benefits on the organism are the polyphenols, which wine is full of and on which the major part of its curing and protective properties depends, including its strong antioxidizing power.

Particularly doted with polyphenols are the wines obtained from Nebbiolo vines. Red wine contains more than white wine (around 2 gramms per litre against 0.5 gramms per litre) and contains in abundance also flavonoids, reservatrol,hydrocinnamic acids and fenolic acids, which are amongst the more common natural antioxidizers also present in fruit vegetables and tea. The effects on the organism can be seen with an example from the many: in the gastrointestinal apparatus, the action of the wine starts by inhibiting the production of serotonin, on which the feeling of fullness depends, therefore stimulates the appetite, whereas on the liver it stimulates the synthesis of apoprotein A1, the most important constituent of good cholesterol, Hdl: contrary to the bad cholesterol (Ldl) in which intervenes also Vitamin C present in wine.

The numerous researches on the circulation apparatus have infact demonstrated that alcohol in moderate doses recleans the arteries of Lipoprotein Ldl, responsible for arteriorsclerosis and that blood vessels obtain an important benefit: the polyphenols increase tone, elasticity, resistance and calcium permeability whilst some minerals contained in wine have protective functions. Magnesium anticoagulative, avoids the formation of thrombosis, potassium has a tonifying action, silicium – the chrome favours the metabolism of fats. Together with other minerals of which Iron, copper and Zinc they carry out an alcalinization action, contrasting the acidifying action on the organism brought on by meat, egg and pasta. The most abundant element, potassium, reduces water retention, has a diuretic function and also rinforces all muscles, the heart included.

The best wine for favouring the diuresis is dry white wine, better still if it has been cultivated in volcanic areas, and also spumante Brut. The grape acids on the contrary have a therapeutic and disintoxification action, lowering the azotemia. Wine is also an ematopoietico factor, stimulating the production of red blood cells, therefor the presence of iron -not neglectable, from 5 to 10 mg per litre- and copper- Nebbiolo del Piemonte grapes are particulary rich in copper. Since it opposes the the accumulation of residues, it has a postive action on various articulation pathologies , such as gout, arthrites and reumaticims, in this latter specialized doctors who follow recent scientific research suggest red wines such as Barolo, Barbaresco, Barmaterra, Gattinara and a few others, if rich in polyphenols. And as many studies carried out since 1977 in Canada, Usa , Italy and France have shown, the vast antisceptic power of wine, as an efficient protection agent against biological pollution from foods and also with beneficial effects in the prevention of tumours. A lot can be said also for the ansiolitica effect which guides the brain towards a better mood.

In conclusion much research has shown that who consumes wine has a longer life. It is all in the knowing of how to drink it, in the right measures. The recommended dose to ensure that all the benefits can be drawn out without consequences due to the alcohol is 3 to 4 glasses a day, which means from 210 – 280 ml. This is the dose which can be defined pharmacological. Writen by Mario Giribaldi.

Geological Formation of the Langhe

The geological formations of the Langhe and Monferrato are made up of sea sediments because in the period of the Lower-Middle Miocene Epoch (8 to 10 million years ago) this area was a part of the Gulf of the Po Valley (then an inlet of the Tethys Ocean).

Marl and sandstone compositions rich in calcium carbonate and other extremely favourable elements from the pedological point of view formed little by little over the years. In particular, in the Langhe four different kinds of soil formed: – the composition of Lequio : (Serravallian or Helvetian age formation stage, which is the most ancient formation) grey marls alternating with sandstones made up of siliceous sands more or less cemented, when in the presence of calcium and iron bicarbonate it takes shade of reddish grey; – the sandstones of Diano : (Helvetian age formation stage) brown-grey or yellowish with grey sandstones (compact sands cemented by carbonates); – the marls of Sant’Agata : (Tortonian age formation stage) rich in magnesium and manganese carbonate which in the surface takes a whitish-grey shade following the action of atmospheric agents; they are clays mixed with very fine sands with a concentrated calcareous component; – the gypseous and sulphur-bearing areas are less beneficial for vine formation: scant agronomic importance. In all these formations the litholitic layers often vary, partly according to the depth, and the differences amongst such compositions are due to their period of origin.

As regards the character and the final organoleptic result of a wine, it is mainly dictated by the soil, as well as by altitude, the exposure, the order of implantation, the yields per vine stock, the agronomic practices in general and the oenological ones; we can therefore state that: – the gypseous and sulphur-bearing areas are the less beneficial for vines; – the marls of Sant’Agata give wines elegance together with delicate aromas, thinness, fruity taste and not too much tannin, thus not very powerful wines; – the formations of Lequio provide full-bodied, powerful, structured and tannic and consequently long-lived wines; – the sandstones of Diano lead to intermediate results between the two previous extremes with a good compromise among elegance, thinness and structure, good complexity and good future, as well as a good tannic weft. Most of our vineyards lie upon the lithologies where the sandstones of Diano (Dolcetto, Arneis, Favorita, Barbera, Nebbiolo) prevail, partly upon the marls of Sant’Agata (Dolcetto, Barbera, Arneis) and a lesser part upon the formations of Lequio (Nebbiolo Langhe) Written By Mario Giribaldi.