2012 Costadilà IGT Bianco Colli Trevigiani ‘280’

Region: Bianco Colli Trevigiani < Veneto < Italy
Grapes: Glera
Vineyard/Cellar Stats: organic farming, shallow limestone-clay, marl soil; 30+ years old vines. Elevation of 250-350 meters. fermented with native yeasts until completely dry, then bottled with must made from passito grapes they dry themselves for secondary fermentation. No sulfur is used at any point in the vinification.
Winemaker: Ernesto Cattel

Costadilà is one of a growing number of Prosecco producers making wine in the old-school col fondo style—i.e. Prosecco that is fermented in bottle via the méthode ancestrale with its sediment still in the bottle—rather than the more industrial and dominant Charmat (tank fermentation) method. Costadilà (which means ‘the hillside over there’) was founded by Ernesto Cattel and a group of partners in 2006 to reintroduce natural farming and winemaking in the region that has become dominated by industrial producers.  Their scope goes well beyond wine, with an emphasis on polyculture: a farm where vines, fruits, vegetables, grains and livestock coexist on the same plots of land. The grapes for this wine are sourced from organic vineyards located 280 meters above sea level (hence the “280”), fermented with native yeasts and bottled without sulfur or filtration.  It’s aromatic and cloudy, with loads of pear and apple skin and a yeasty undertone.  And though it’s far less funky than it looks, it definitely is not your all-purpose, party-pounding Prosecco. This is seriously cool wine that deserves to be taken seriously.