We just love Piemonte for so many reasons. Castles, vistas, insanely delicious dishes, rare wine varieties, the kindest of people, and a food n wine culture that's been 100's of years in the making. So when 2023 became one heckuva warm year high up in the Monferrato hills, our Cortese replied with "sure, let's do this! I'll be making you something to make Chardonnay feel sad". This wine is gobbed up with rich textures of citrus, perfume and a naughty side. Crisp, refreshing, and made for long summer afternoons. 5% skin contact, 95% Free-run, 100% substantially delicious Cortese is an old and rare variety of unknown parentage, grown for centuries on and near the Ligurian coast to satisfy the cravings of the few sea-farers keen for wines to match their daily catch. Carved sequentially from a classic planting of 30 year old vines sitting high in the Monferrato hills of Piemonte, this wine has seen differential skin contact. 5% of the clusters from the south-west exposure of this ancient hillside are individually selected and destemmed to whole berry. These are then fermented and macerated on skins for up to 45 days. The remaining clusters are separately harvested, pressed, and the juice slowly cold-fermented in stainless steel. The wines are re-united in late October before bottling. 100% Cortese. 12.5% alcohol.
