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A NEW YEAR AND NEW VINTAGES ARRIVING

posted on 12 January 2020
RINE’ GAINS A SCREW CAP
This coming March, the new 2018 vintage of Riné, its second vintage as a certified organic wine, will debut on the market under a screw cap for the first time, and so we want to talk a bit about this type of closure. We have been using this closure for some years now for Rosanoire, and since last year for our latest-born Valtènesi Chiaretto. We have found the results positive in terms of cellarability, soundness, and crispness, in particular over the medium- and long-term; our customers, often tired of opening wines that were tainted, have expressed full satisfaction. So, after these years of trials and careful study, we decided to give a screw cap to Riné as well, something that would add to the well-known ageability of this distinctive white, allowing it to preserve even greater aromatic intensity, a characteristic particularly expressive in the 2018 vintage. Given the screw cap’s sterility and hermetic seal, bottling wines is definitely made much easier, since less sulphites need to be used, which adds up to greater respect for the wine itself, for the terroir, and for the health of the consumer.
NEXT ON THE RETAIL SHELVES
As mentioned above, mid-February will see the release of Valtènesi Chiaretto 2019 Bio, March that of Rosanoire 2019 Bio and of Riné 2018 Bio. With regard to the reds, the first bottles of Zerdì 2017 Bio are already available, whereas the debut of the new Groppello 2018 Bio will have to wait for Vinitaly 2020. True, it’s not a real debut, since it’s the same wine that was labelled Valtènesi DOC, but we have again added to the label its grape variety and taken advantage of that to freshen up the label. And an interesting new development: in 2017 we were intrigued by a tank of Pinot Noir that spontaneously fermented with indigenous yeasts, which we then aged just in steel and bottled about a year from harvest, without using stabilisation, clarification, or filtration—another great example of a open-minded «exercice de style» à la Cantrina. The result, IGT Benaco Bresciano Pinot Nero Bio 2017 Corteccio, the old name for the first Pinot Noir-based wines in the years when we were just starting out. There are just a few hundred bottles, and we don’t yet know whether or when there will be more, but these are perfect for adventuresome wine-lovers who want to “taste outside the boundaries”. The bottles are indeed few.

Cristina and Diego

Cantrina in real time

posted on 4 March 2011
I am writing from New York… I try in English (no time, unfortunately to have our dear Michael Benson translating for us). The weather is fine, better than in Italy, chilly temperature but no snow. The city is amazing, as always and each time I’m back it seems to me like being back home. Just an update about the mess I’m doing here, working in New York for the second time this year. Today a benefit event will be held by the Brooklyn based Issue project Room, rapidly becoming the point of reference for contemporary art in the New York area. Cantrina is a proud sponsor and our wines will be the only ones in tasting for the night

The Befana’s* Newsletter

posted on 5 January 2011
*[In Italy the feast of Epiphany is “personified” by la Befana, an imaginary, witch-like crone who brings gifts to good children and (sweet) “coal” to those who have misbehaved]. I always like to be a little bit different, so the Befana’s feast is one I identify with… and that is why I am only now taking the opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New Year, assuming you have survived the massive beanfeasts during the recent holiday period! I just have one or two TEENSY-WEENSY bits of news to tell you about: Cantrina has also gained a foothold in MonteCarlo, for now just with our most extreme wine, the ERETICO 2007… I am increasingly convinced that unique products really do make a difference in the marketplace and so one should always be prepared to TAKE A GAMBLE!

Harvest 2010

posted on 6 November 2010
What can we say about the 2010 harvest, which came at the end of a year that was especially strange and difficult? There was a late spring and a rainy summer that was cool and humid, an early autumn and lots of problems with the health of the vines. 2010 will definitely not be one of the vintages of the century and, as things stand right now, it is very hard to pick out any products of real excellence. However, after the first few days of harvesting, which caused us a great deal of apprehension because of all the care and hard work that we had to put into selecting the grapes, we can now say that we are hoping for a few pleasant surprises from the vats where fermentation is just coming to an end. In short, it took us more time to pick less grapes than usual; also, we didn’t set aside any grapes for drying to make the Sole di Dario and we selected fewer grapes for the Nepomuceno. From our initial tastings, though, we can look forward to wines that may be less fleshy and muscular, but which display great freshness, fine aromas and acidity and which should eventually offer elegance and longevity. The French (who know a thing or two about wine) refer to these as “cellar masters’ vintages”: years in which the skill and sensitivity of the winemaker really can compensate for nature’s lack of generosity. We hope we’ve done a good job!
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