Le Grive
Monferrato Rosso doc

Grape: Barbera, Pinot Nero

Vineyard: The terrain is limestone-marl with the presence of clay, sandstone and sands. The slopes lie more than 400 metres above sea level on sunny ridges with an ideai climate. The vineyards are surrounded by stone walls and dotted with gorse and juniper. The vines are trained using the short Guyot method with at least 7,000 shoots per hectare. Fieldfares (Turdus pilaris - Grive in ltalian) seek out the juniper berries on the bushes around the vineyards and give their name to the wine.

Production techniques: The vines are cultivated using traditional manual techniques. The healthy, ripe grapes are gathered late and after careful selection, they are pressed and fermented in small, temperature-controlled vats. After racking, the malolactic fermentation is encouraged and natural stabilisation occurs during the cold winter months. The wine is aged in small oak barrels for about ten months. Bottling usually takes piace at the end of summer, just before the grapes from the next harvest are processed. The choice of the vines, the methods of cultivation and the care taken during vinification, guarantee that this wine contains considerable quantities of anthocyanins and noble polyphenols beneficial to health.

Characterisitics: A unique fruit forward flavour combined with a marked bouquet with notes of vanilla and spice. A bold, velvetywine rich in tannins with an excellent drinkability that evolves in complexity over the years.

To be enjoyed: If drunk young it is a wine that goes well with cooked vegetables, vegetable soups and pasta with flavoursome sauces. In later years, it is a wine for roast meats and cheeses, including matured cheeses. It should be served at 18-22°C in large crystal glasses.

Oenological characteristics:
Colour: Intense, deep ruby-red
Alcohol content: ~ 14.5% by vol.
Total acidity:  ~ 5%
pH:  ~ 3. 7
Sulphites: <0.09 g/l

Presentation: 75 cl. bottles in cases of six. Magnum, 150 cl. 37.5 cl. bottle. Individual lithographed cases.