Sottofondo

Sottofondo is the result of several years of trials and successive refinements in the cellar, to arrive at our own interpretation of bubbles using the traditional method of bottle refermentation, without disgorgement and therefore with its sediment.

The Trebbiano grapes it comes from are picked early, at the end of August, to preserve good acidity. We then let them ferment spontaneously without skins, in steel. At the end of September we pick another portion of grapes, now ripe, which ferment – this time with the skins – for about a month. The two still base wines, neither fined nor filtered, are kept separate until February, when we obtain the must from the grapes we had left to dry in the cellar. At this point everything is ready for bottling and the second fermentation: the one in the bottle.

We blend everything in the right proportions: plenty of freshness and acidity (from the first harvest), some body, structure and colour (from the second), and finally sugars, yeasts and dried-grape aromas (from the dried grapes). An excellent combination, ready to go into the bottle and wait for the yeasts to do their job. After a few months, the bubbles arrive. Very fine, almost imperceptible, very delicate.

The choice not to disgorge (which is why you will still find the crown cap), and not to fine or filter, is tied to an idea of "living wine", one that continues to evolve in the bottle thanks to the presence of the yeasts, or of what remains of them.