NV Scacciadiavoli Rose Vino Spumante Brut Metodo Classico, Umbria, Italy (750ml)
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A Quarterly Sparkling Wine Club Selection
Aromas of red berries and grapefruit peel. The palate is focused with flavors of pink grapefruit, blood orange, tart strawberry and a sweet herbal note. Nicely structured with a creamy mousse and a broad finish.
Founded in 1884, the Scacciadiavoli winery (from scacciare diavoli “to banish devils”) takes its name from an exorcist that lived in a town that borders the property and who used wine for his exorcism rituals. It was originally conceived by Prince Ugo Boncompagni Ludovisi as an imposing oenological complex, highly advanced for the time. In 1954 Amilcare Pambuffetti, then aged 71, bought the Scacciadiavoli property, where at the tender age of 14 he had worked as a farmhand. Upon his death in 1977 his sons Alfio, Settimio and Mario continued in their father’s footsteps. In the year 2000 the Pambuffetti brothers—Francesco, Carlo, and Amilcare— the children of Settimio, decided to take the winery into their own hands, the oldest of its kind in the area. Now, the fourth generation of the family, Amilcare, Lacopo, Liù, Romeo and Fiammetta have joined the family business.
Although the winery never stopped its production since 1884, the year 2000 saw the beginning of extensive renovations. These were undertaken without modifying the original building and preserving all the historical architectural structures, while introducing new technologies and modern machinery. The winery sits on a hill, with a vertical building on four levels, one of which is below ground, allowing all the production to function via gravity-flow.
As it stands, the property consists of 130 hectares, 40 of which are under vine. The vineyards occupy various hillsides in the municipalities of Montefalco, Gualdo Cattaneo and Giano dell’Umbria. With an average altitude of 1300 feet above sea level, these sites are perfectly suited for late-ripening vine varieties such as Sagrantino.
100% Sagrantino, the grapes were carefully harvested, sorted, pressed and fermented in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks, all within 6 hours. This rosé spumante was created in the traditional Champagne method, wherein the effervescence is achieved through a secondary fermentation in the bottle. It was aged in the bottle sur lies for 24 months.