Description

Giuseppe Contratto founded his winery in 1867, when he began to vinify muscat grapes from the Monferrato area, producing one of the first Italian sparkling wines in bottles. Also in those years the Contratto family began the construction of its historic cellar, which was then completed at the beginning of the twentieth century.

In 1919 Contratto produced the first vintage “methode Champenoise” sparkling wine in Italy.  The winery became the official wine supplier for the Vatican, the Belgian royal house, and the royal family Savoy.

The Contratto family remained at the helm of the winery until 1993, when the Bocchino family, already owner of  a grappa distillery, took the reins of the company starting a remarkable renovation of the “Cathedral of Wine”, the internal courtyard and the tasting room.

Giorgio Rivetti, always a great lover of Champagne and one of the region’s top sparkling muscato producers, began to collaborate with Bocchino family, immediately recognizing the great potential of the historic sparkling wine house. Shortly after, in 2011, the Rivetti decided to take an important step and acquired the winery.

Riveti immediately acquired several hectares of  vineyard land near the small town of Bossolasco. Located in the highest part of the Langhe, the Bossolasco area lends itself perfectly to the cultivation of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, grapes used in the production of Alta Langhe DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita). This marked the official entry of Contratto into the Alta Langhe Consortium, and thus becoming a reference point for the entire denomination.

A cuvée of 95% Pinot Noir and 5% Chardonnay.  The grapes are manually picked and selected and kept separate according to their vineyard location (1600′ asl). They are separated by parcel and variety, destemmed, cooled down in the winery and crushed without pressure.  Only the free run juice is collected.  Both fermentations are indigenous.  The first fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks; where the pinot noir is aged, while the Chardonnay goes to French oak for 7 months prior to bottling.  Once the cuvée is bottled and fermented again it spends almost 100 months aging on its lees (en tirage). Riddling is done by hand.  There is zero dosage at disgorgement.  12.0% alcohol.

“This wine sees seven long years of yeast contact. It celebrates the estate’s 150th anniversary (1867-2017). The 2010 Metodo Classico Special Cuvée Pas Dosé is almost entirely Pinot Nero, with a 5% part of Chardonnay from the same site that makes La Spinetta’s Lidia. This is a big picture sparkling wine, that when reviewed in its entirety reveals extraordinary balance, intensity and purity. These excellent attributes are lavished over the wine’s generously full-bodied approach. Best of all, there is a perfect level of ripeness here that tastes sweet and salty at the same time. 2021-2040”. 96 points, Wine Advocate (ML) – August 2018