Vignaquaranti

Straw yellow color. Aroma of white flowers, yellow-fleshed fruit and citrus fruits. Full, structured with good freshness and great persistence Widespread above all in lower Piedmont, although cultivated in almost all Piedmontese provinces and often known by different names, Arneis has in recent years taken on the role of the reference white grape variety of the region, to the detriment of the more widespread Cortese. What makes it increasingly known and appreciated is above all the high degree of ripeness it reaches in the most suitable climates and soils, capable of producing wines with structure and very pleasant aromatic characteristics, with notes of ripe fruit and citrus fruits. The Arneis plot of Vignaquaranti is located in an ideal pedoclimatic position for the valorization of these characteristics: south-east exposure on soils with good sandy endowment, which therefore have good drainage capacity, with a positive effect on the low production yields and the ripening profile. The vinification takes place by soft pressing of the grapes and fermentation at 18-20 °C. In these conditions the Arneis is particularly generous, giving the wine great structure and roundness, as well as very intense and varied aromatic characteristics that make it a white wine that can be appreciated from aperitifs to preparations with a good taste impact.

Ruby red colour. Vinous, red berries from the undergrowth. Full, structured with good freshness and great persistence. The Barbera grape, one of the noble Piedmontese grape varieties, has always found its ideal habitat in the Asti area because the climatic conditions in these areas, although with different characteristics, allow this grape variety to produce fresh and pleasant wines without sacrificing structure and elegance. Vignaquaranti's Barbera plot is located in Castelletto Molina, a few kilometres from Nizza Monferrato, in the heart of the Asti hills. The vines, over forty years old, face south-east. The terroir here is particularly characterised by the nature of the sandy-clayey soil, which allows the Barbera grapes to ripen with a high sugar and polyphenol enrichment. The grapes are carefully harvested by hand in the second half of September and are pressed and vinified in the winery using modern equipment, fully respecting the traditional processing method, which involves a medium-long maceration. Barbera d'Asti Rablè presents itself on the nose with typical vinous notes and red berries from the undergrowth. In the mouth we find a structured wine, balanced by fine tannins and a decisive freshness that contributes to the persistence of the aftertaste and prolongs it.

Straw yellow colour with golden reflections. Aroma acacia flowers, exotic fruit, hydrocarbons. Good structure, with great mineral character and persistence. Nascetta is one of the many native grape varieties, once famous and appreciated for the characteristics of the wines produced, which almost completely disappeared during the 20th century to the detriment of more productive and adaptable varieties. In Piedmont, its area of ​​origin, Nascetta, like other white grape varieties, had to contend with a less favourable tradition of appreciation compared to red grape varieties. Thanks in particular to a study by the University of Turin that began in the 2000s, Nascetta (also called Nasz-cetta) was re-cultivated in small plots in lower Piedmont, between the provinces of Cuneo and Asti. The characteristics of the Vignaquaranti soils, predominantly sandy and calcareous, are very interesting: the high degree of ripeness allows the expression of the great and intense aromatic profile of the Nascetta, which is fermented at 18-20 °C after a soft pressing of the grapes. The nose ranges from exotic fruit to thiol and hydrocarbon notes; in the mouth, the structure and the decisive minerality that accompany the drink make it a wine of great versatility.

Nebbiolo is rightly the symbol of Piedmontese oenology, probably precisely because its organoleptic characteristics fully respect the cultural traditions of this splendid territory, past and present. Its rigor and elegance make it a real point of reference even at international level, if we ignore the various denominations and terroirs in which Nebbiolo shows itself with different characteristics. Nebbiolo was recently included in the DOC Monferrato, proving that from the slopes of the Alps, in the area of ​​Novara and Vercelli, in the province of Ivrea, in the Val di Susa and then down to the first Apennines with the Langa and the Alto Monferrato, it has different agronomic peculiarities and characteristics, with different but always extremely interesting results from a qualitative point of view. A vine that ripens very late and often completes its technological and phenolic maturation at cold temperatures that allow it to fully develop. A vine that needs time to develop, refine itself and rewards the wait with profiles characterized by great structure and persistence. The "Gasiè" plot of Vignaquaranti offers very interesting ripening parameters, with an excellent balance between vegetation and production. Generally, the choice is made for vinification with a short maceration to preserve the fruit and then allow it to mature to complete the gustatory characteristics and the inimitable tannic profile GRAPE VARIETIES: 100% Nebbiolo SOIL: clayey EXPOSURE: South-East GROWTH: 4500 plants/ha GROWTH FORM: espalier, Guyot pruning YIELD PER HECTARE: 60 quintals/hectare HARVEST: manual, early October VINIFICATION: fermentation in steel tanks with maceration of a maximum of one week COLOUR: ruby ​​red with garnet reflections BOUQUET: ripe red fruit, cherries in alcohol TASTE: good structure and fullness, enveloping tannins and long aftertaste

Pinot Noir is known to be among the international grape varieties, planted and cultivated in different corners of the globe, and among these it has always been universally regarded as the most difficult grape variety to manage both viticulturally and oenologically, but at the same time the most interesting. The climate zone generally best suited to the grape variety is that of 45, and above all terroirs characterised by cool, temperate climates. Speaking specifically of characteristics for red wine making, it is often the mildest areas with the greatest temperature swings during the ripening period that are best suited: the Cote d'Or in France, of course, southern Austria and Alto Adige in the Alpine belt, Oltrepò Pavese and southern Pimeonte, Garfagnana, Casentino and Conero in central Italy, and even New Zealand in the other hemisphere. In the Apennine belt of Piedmont in particular, Pinot Noir has been present for at least a century and a half, arriving as the main representative of a sparkling wine phase in these territories that saw Casteggio in the province of Pavia and Canelli in the province of Asti as the true epicentres of this phase. In the decades that followed, and right up to the present day, the sparkling wine tradition has been flanked by red wine making, which has often seen shorter ageing techniques in our country centred on inert materials such as steel and cement, as opposed to a more limited use of wood. Pinot Noir matures rather early, in some climates having to make delicate compromises for a technological maturation that risks taking away space from the phenolic parameters. It often needs time to evolve, to refine, and to repay the wait with wines characterised by structure and persistence, with tannins that are often the balance of elegance and drinkability. In Vignaquaranti's ‘Vallone’ plot, the cool soils combined with excellent exposure are able to offer very interesting ripening parameters for this grape variety. Temperature excursions during the ripening period are also decisive. The oenological choice is to opt for a vinification with moderately prolonged maceration at temperatures that are not too high, in order to preserve the fruit and then allow the ageing to complete the maturation of the characteristics, both olfactory and gustatory.

Very intense ruby ​​red colour with slightly orange reflections, white flowers, yellow-fleshed fruit. Bouquet of jam, spices and cocoa. Structured, intense, elegant, with great persistence. A noble grape variety that in the past was often mistakenly considered unsuitable for the production of wines with a long ageing period. In fact, there are few wine-growing areas where Barbera can best express itself, giving structure, elegance and its particular longevity. The small plot that Vignaquaranti owns in the municipality of Castelletto Molina, near Nizza Monferrato, is an excellent example. The fifty-year-old vines are planted facing south-east on sandy-clayey soil. The vineyard is managed very rationally, thanks above all to the age of the vines. For this Barbera Superiore, only the grapes from the best exposed vines of the plot are used, selected by hand and with an excellent technological and phenolic ripeness profile. The grapes are crushed and undergo a fermentation characterized by long macerations. The maturation then takes place in small French oak barriques, some new and some used, and lasts at least 18 months, with the so-called "batonnage" being carried out regularly during the first period to re-separate the finest lees. This type of maturation allows the structure of the wine to evolve, especially in terms of tannins, and the intense and disruptive aromas to become more mature and ethereal. Barbera d'Asti Superiore Thelèm therefore presents itself on the nose with typical notes of jam, spices and cocoa. In the mouth we find a wine with great structure and intensity, characterized by ripe and soft tannins and a very persistent aftertaste.