Do we ship to you?.
More Details
Winery
Malabaila
Varietal: Brachetto
In Italy's beautiful northern region of Piedmont, wineries have been cultivating the Brachetto grape for centuries, as it thrives on the cooler, mountainous slopes typical of this area. The Brachetto grape is prized by wineries and wine lovers alike, as it produced remarkably light bodied red wines which capture the essence of a Piedmont summer – delicate, breezy, pretty and packed full of summery flavors of strawberries and fresh mountain grasses. The Brachetto wines are also highly aromatic, and because of their mild tannin content, they are very smooth, light and drinkable, making them ideal for sharing on a warm summer's day. Whilst Brachetto varietal grapes are most commonly used for still wines, several wineries in Italy and elsewhere also use them in the production of sparkling wines, often referred to as 'red Asti' as a result of their finesse and elegance.
Region: Piedmont
The region of Piedmont in the cool, breezy north-western part of Italy is renowned throughout the world for high quality, flavorful and delicious red wines, and for the elegant and refined sparkling wines such as Asti which typify the area. The region is located at the foothills of the Alps, close to the French and Swiss borders, and benefits from some interesting micro-climates formed by its proximity to the mountain range. The key grapes for the fine red wines of Piedmont are Nebbiolo, Dolcetto and Barbera – all powerful varietals which are packed full of a range of fruit flavors and which have an affinity for oak making them ideal for aging When it comes to the sparkling Asti, wineries cultivate plenty of Moscato grapes, whose relative transparency make them ideal for expressing their terroir and providing some interesting flavors in the bottle.
Country: Italy
There are few countries in the world with a viticultural history as long or as illustrious as that claimed by Italy. Grapes were first being grown and cultivated on Italian soil several thousand years ago by the Greeks and the Pheonicians, who named Italy 'Oenotria' – the land of wines – so impressed were they with the climate and the suitability of the soil for wine production. Of course, it was the rise of the Roman Empire which had the most lasting influence on wine production in Italy, and their influence can still be felt today, as much of the riches of the empire came about through their enthusiasm for producing wines and exporting it to neighbouring countries. Since those times, a vast amount of Italian land has remained primarily for vine cultivation, and thousands of wineries can be found throughout the entire length and breadth of this beautiful country, drenched in Mediterranean sunshine and benefiting from the excellent fertile soils found there. Italy remains very much a 'land of wines', and one could not imagine this country, its landscape and culture, without it.