Podere Sottoilnoce "Valtiberia" 2023 Bianco Frizzante di Trebbiano Emilia Romagna

750ml bottle

12% abv

Bright, inviting, and stimulating, with aromas of yellow fruits and white blossoms. Features small, fine bubbles, is lively yet has body, and offers a straightforward yet dynamic finish.

Grape Varieties: 70% Trebbiano Modenese, 30% Trebbiano di Spagna
Vineyard: Castelvetro di Modena
Harvest: By hand
Fermentation: Spontaneous - wild yeasts + natural secondary fermentation in the bottle
Aging: 9 months in steel tank and cement, followed by further aging in the bottle
Fining/Filtration: None
SO₂: < 25mg/l

Practicing organic & biodynamic
Aged on lees, unfined, unfiltered

Bottled February 21, 2024 under a crescent moon
6,531 bottles produced

Trebbiano is a family of grape varieties that consists of approximately 15 different members. It is generally scoffed at and dismissed in terms of quality. While this view is sometimes justified, those who believe that the sea of varieties and styles only holds mediocrity are greatly mistaken.

Two of the most remarkable representatives of Trebbiano are Trebbiano Modenese and Trebbiano di Spagna, which are typically used for the production of balsamic vinegar. However, those like Max Brondolo from Sottoilnoce, who cultivate their vineyards on less fertile hillside locations rather than in the plains, are wise to transform these grapes into wine.

Max vinifies these two varieties into a Rifermentato, a Frizzante that undergoes secondary fermentation in the bottle and is not disgorged. The result is a bright, inviting, and stimulating wine with aromas of yellow fruits and white blossoms. It features small, fine bubbles, is lively yet has body, and offers a straightforward and dynamic finish.

Podere Sottoilnoce is a 7-hectare wine estate located in the picturesque village of Castelvetro di Modena, at the very heart of the Lambrusco Grasparossa DOC. Max has been applying biodynamic principles since 2016, with the goal of maintaining the balance between monoculture (vineyards) and surrounding nature. 

Podere Sottoilnoce is a first-generation winery. While Max started this project from zero, his family still had some experience with wine as his grandfather was also a winemaker, but in Asti, in Piedmont. That's where he built his first memories of wine as a kid - sparkling barbera. Very discreet about his previous professional life, he regrets he didn’t start with winemaking earlier in his life. Interestingly, Max invested in buying vineyards before the cellar, or an actual winery. He is still a bit of a nomad winemaker. He collaborated with Gianluca Bergianti, where he started to make his wines. He uses another winemaker's facilities where his tanks are. His storage is at another place near Modena and his tasting room and office is at another very lovely small house by the vineyard. 

Max harvests by hand and is intensely detail-oriented in order to allow himself to minimally intervene during the winemaking process. All grape varieties are vinified separately and once the alcoholic fermentation is complete, they are assembled following Max’s interpretation of depending on the vintage and vessels. Sulfur addition is done in minuscule quantities (between 10 to 15mg/L) immediately after the end of alcoholic fermentation. The final blend is then bottled together with must from the previous vintage or grape sugar, without added yeast, in order to undergo the second fermentation in bottle. All sparkling wines are therefore refermented in bottles, unfiltered and without disgorgement.