Vite Colte Winery president Piero Quadrumolo talks about the project dedicated to Metodo Classico Alta Langa, featuring Cinquecento Brut and Seicento Pas Dosé sparkling wines.
“If the climate changes, so do we.” This is how Piero Quadrumolo, president of Barolo-based Vite Colte Winery, summarizes the thoughts from which the new Metodo Classico Alta Langa Docg Seicento Pas Dosé, from grapes grown at about 600 meters above sea level. “The increasingly warmer climate accelerates the life cycle of plants and brings earlier and earlier harvests. To recover the production of Metodo Classico sparkling wine by following the natural biological cycle of the vine, we decided to plant vineyards at high altitudes, favored by the conformation of our territory .
Metodo Classico Alta Langa since 2016
Vite Colte winery’s classic method production officially began with the 2016 vintage, and after experimentation in the vineyard and cellar, Alta Langa Docg Cinquecento Brut was launched at the 2017 vintage. The specification requires at least 30 months of aging on the lees and a minimum altitude of the vineyards of 250 meters above sea level. The choice of high altitude plots, to escape the great heat during the grape ripening period, had made it possible to lengthen the start of the harvest by 10 to 15 days, between the last week of August and the first week of September.
“But since then the climate has changed further, and we know that the rise will not stop here,” continued President Quadrumolo – so we made the decision, supported by scientific research, to design a viticulture of the future, one that would be able to cope with the evolution of the next 20, 30 years. It was an important and challenging decision for our winemakers, because we went to plant new vineyards at 500 meters above sea level. At this altitude we produced the first Alta Langa Cinquecento Brut, already on the market. But we didn’t stop there; we planted new vineyards at an altitude of 600 meters where, until now, there were only meadows, forests and hazelnut groves “. And from those vineyards was born the new Alta Langa Seicento Pas Dosé.
Vineyards getting higher and higher
“More and more frequent are the harvests that begin even before the mid-August. But it is not enough to take note of what has become a necessity, so we decided to take concrete action to counteract the effects of heat on our grapes for sparkling. And we have our own solution: our hillsides are high, and we know that the higher you go, the lower the temperature gets.”
Continues Quadrumolo: “Bringing the vines higher allows us to respect the balance of the vine and its biological cycle, give it a stress-free life. The development time is slowed down by the cooler air, allowing it to maintain the right alcohol content, to retain the acidity we need, and to be enriched with aromas and flavors. To return to harvests in September-October, which then means offering a longer life cycle for the plant, we realized that this was the right way to go: let’s go for the height what, for example in Champagne, they get through latitude.”
Some clarification on the Alta Langa DOCG
Alta Langa, which means Spumante Metodo Classico Millesimato, originated as a production area in the mid-19th century from vineyards planted on that stretch of land that stretches across the hilly strip of Lower Piedmont, in the part of the Langhe bordering Liguria. The land consists of hills that reach up to 750 meters above sea level, with peaks reaching 900 meters. The cool air that descends from the peaks at night along the slopes mitigates the humidity on their walls, protecting the vines from attack by parasites, favorably influences the ripening of the grapes and the development of their aromas, and maintains adequate levels of acidity necessary for a quality sparkling wine.
Alta Langa is the result, as in the most important Metodo Classico sparkling wines, of a blend of approx. 80% Pinot Noir, which gives strength and longevity to the wine, and Chardonnay, which complements it with sweetness and a broad aromatic spectrum.
Vite Colte’s Alta Langa project now has a production of about 40,000 bottles of the Cinquecento Brut, excellent as an aperitif and for by the glass, and 10,000 of the Seicento Pas Dosé, particularly suitable for Haute Catering as an accompaniment to the meal.
Vite Colte’s philosophy on Alta Langa is a return to the future, a concrete and nature-friendly way to concretely address climate change: the goal is to become the High Langa specialists at high altitudes..
