Castel del Piano "Lunalies" 2021 Rosato Frizzante Lunigiana, Toscana

750ml bottle

11.5% abv

Grapes: Vermentino Nero

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Certified organic farming; soils are a mix of calcareous, sand and pebble deposits; harvested early and completely fermented in bottle; unfined/unfiltered with no added So2; zero-zero

Winemaker: Andre Ghigliazza & Sabina Ruffaldi 

Andre Ghigliazza & Sabina Ruffaldi picturesque little “Castle” lies hidden in the valley of the Lunigiana, surrounded by the Massa - Carrara mountains (famed for its marble deposits); this is where Tuscany’s northern border meets the southern tip of Liguria, butting up against the south-western tip of Liguria and the south-western tip of nearby Emilia Romagna. Having escaped the corporate rat race of life in metropolitan Milan, the couple set about resurrecting a centuries old villa in this relatively remote corner of northern Tuscany, in the process inheriting and resurrecting a few small parcels of indigenous vines that grow parallel to the nearby Taverone river. Sabina and Andrea’s operation is small but full of soul and grass roots, up-by-the-bootstraps grit - they’re total production barely scrapes 900 cases a year encompassing a number of local rarities including Canaiolo, Vermentino Nero and Pollera, all farmed organically and vinified with only a light guiding hand.

The uber pretty, peach-colored fizz that is Andrea and Sabina’s ‘Lunalies’ Frizzante is derived entirely of Vermentino Nero, harvested early in pursuit of bubbly-appropriate acidity, and fermented entirely in bottle, resulting in a refreshingly rustic farmhouse rosato sparkler that even your mom could love. Though unfined and filtered - packing all of the probiotic goodness of those elements remaining in the bottle post-fermentation - the Lunalies is squeaky clean and bone dry, its cloudy, sunset-hued contents emitting all the qualities of a salt and pepper flecked Bellini made of unripe peach puree, skins and all. Addictively tart and puckeringly fresh in the mouth, the Lunalies digs a little deeper, with wafts of pickled grapefruit rind and green strawberry salad, all of it carried on a pleasant and moreish wave of creamy fizz.