Malvira 'Birbet' Brachetto Spumante di Qualita Tipologia Aromatica Piedmont

Winemakers Notes: Malvirà’s beloved sparkling Brachetto has changed slightly in nature! What was once classified as a “mosto parzialmente fermentato” (partially fermented grape juice), is now officially a Vino Spumante di Qualita Tipologia Aromatica (sparkling wine from aromatic grapes). This means that the new version of Birbet is fermented longer than previous releases, decreasing the sweetness (from 130 GPL RS to 110) and increasing the pressure in the bottle from 1 atmosphere to 6. It now carries a mushroom cork with cage closure as opposed to a simple cork closure.

Giuseppe Damonte established Malvirà in 1950, a time when the Roero’s potential was yet unrealized. Giuseppe had a great passion for farming and wine, a passion that he passed on to his two sons, Roberto and Massimo. In 1974, Roberto and Massimo took the reins and began slowly turning the family’s bulk wine business into an estate focusing on quality wine production. Over the course of the next 30+ years, the brothers Damonte worked tirelessly to improve the quality of wines at Malvirà. Today their entire production comes from six vineyards over about 40 HA, all of which is organically farmed.

 CRITICAL ACCLAIM

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - "Made with the partially fermented must of the Brachetto Longo grape, the Malvirà NV Birbet has candied aromas of raspberry or cherry lollipop with cola, some crushed mint or laurel leaf, bitter almond, licorice and camphor ash. In the AIS sommelier school, they taught me that if you can assign more than eight aromatic descriptors to a wine, it could then be deemed "complex." If that's the case, I might be able to come up with double that number, as this wine changes and evolves with each swirl of the glass. Despite all the layering, this remains a fun, semi-sweet summertime sparkling red to bring to beach or poolside picnics. The alcohol content is contained at just 5% percent. Score: 88+."