Castagna 2017 Sparkling Allegro – Méthode Traditionelle – 4 years on Lees

“Rose bright, lots of lively red berry fruitiness, some zesty, briny acidity in the mix, cool, tight bubbles. There’s some halva and nougat notes in the mix, a sense of complexity and freshness alongside savoury characters. Feels gently ‘red winey’ and has lots of detail and vitality despite that. Serious.” ~ Mike Bennie in Wine Front

“The wine has considerable weight. Like it seems heavy on the palate. Like some kind of burnished liquid gold. Then a cheeky, gentle, persistent fizz lifts that weight and turns the gravity off. Joy bounces off the top of your mouth, but the good feels go straight on up through the mixing deck. It’s magic.

Unlike most of these bottle-fermented sparkling wines, this one is neither cloudy nor explosive. But it gives more Sgt. Pepper’s Magical Mystery Tour per sip than nearly everything else I know.

Natural? Like that moody, more wintry Lobo, this wine is the work of methodical, respectful, natural-born genius with an acute scientific curiosity. Genius? Sure. If it wasn’t there’d be a helluva lot more of it.” Phillip White – Drinkster