This new Alta Langa Metodo Classico celebrates all the richness of the past and looks at the future with a new perspective. 4 years on its own lees, 100% Pinot Noir grapes, on limited production, for a bubbly with an undisputed personality that represents Fontanafredda style and celebrates the 166-year history of our winery.
How it all began
It was June 17th, 1858, when “an act of command of the royal delegate” to the municipality of Serralunga d’Alba, witnessed, “by injunction,” the inscription in the private estate of Vittorio Emanuele II, then still King of Sardinia, an area of 138.82 “giornate piemontesi.” Like all beautiful things, Fontanafredda was born from a love story, that between Vittorio Emanuele II, who became the first King of Italy, and Rosa Vercellana, to whom, the Sovereign gave as a pledge of love, the land acquired in 1858, where the winery still stands today.
Alongside the great Barolos, work on bubbles began as early as 1950, when it was in Fontanafredda that the forerunner of today’s Alta Langa was born, the first bottle-fermented sparkling wine from Piedmont, “Contessa Rosa.”
So many milestones have been achieved over the years. We have always been pioneers of great innovations and still craftsmen. A baggage that in 2021 was recognized by the Ministry of Economic Development with the delivery of the “Historical Bran”. But not only that, also in 2017 with the recognition to Fontanafredda as “Winery of the Year” by Wine Enthusiast.
The philosophy is to enhance the character of each individual wine to the fullest, in the sign of a new Renaissance, our desire to return to tell the story of the uniqueness of the territory, of each individual vineyard, enhancing the biodiversity of the Langhe and preserving its historical memory.
Alta Langa Hundred Sixty Six 2018
The Pinot Noir grapes, which, thanks to the altitude between 400-600m asl in the vineyards of Castino, Borgomale and Lequio Berria, ripen slowly, can give the wine very special aromas. The clay-limestone type soil exposed to the Marin, a wind that brings as a gift the mild influence of the sea, gives crispness, verticality and flavour, unique characteristics that are transferred to the bottle from the soils of the Alta Langa.
A bubbly with a very fine and very persistent pérlage, in the glass it shows a golden yellow colour and green reflections. Thanks to the 4 years spent on yeasts, the aromas, of great intensity and complexity, are reminiscent of wildflower honey and spices, toasted nuts and bread crust. In the mouth, the structure of pinot noir is felt, giving a long and persistent finish with fresh and savory sensations.
An iconic bottle, the champagnotta, fully represents our identity. Indeed, it bears an original lithographic print of the estate, which has been digitized and reproduced with a direct white screenprint on glass and embellished with gold leaf. The print depicts the estate between 1900 and 1918, during its greatest commercial expansion counting 200 employees and more than 40 families residing in the village.
166 years of history that is always new: a history that endures and that today, with confidence in the past, courage in the present, looks optimistically to the future.