2020 Gasparda 'Scheriöl' Rosato
2020 Gasparda 'Scheriöl' Rosato
Region: Piemonte < Italy
Grapes: Freisa
Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Biodynamic farming; marl and white limestone soils; direct press after a few hours on the skins then aged in fiberglass; no filtering or clarification; no additions of any kind, including So2; zero-zero; 41 cases; 12% ABV
Winemaker: Roberto Salvaneschi
The Salvaneschi family has been making wine for 3 generations, but it
wasn’t until 2010 that they decided to produce their own label and
actually sell it. In 2013, Patritzia and Pietro Salvaneschi purchased
the Cascina Gasparda farmhouse and its 7 hectares of vineyards, which
they run with the help of their sons Roberto and Mauro. They also set
up a farmstay that can accommodate 20 people with a family philosophy
of eating and preparing what they grow - “zero food (and wine) miles”.
For the family, everything starts with respect, health, and rhythms
of the natural environment as well as the respect and health of those
who will walk through their vineyards and are nourished from the
products of their land. Roberto is honest when he says to live as a
winemaker you have to want it and it has to come from within - it
cannot be approached just as business or because it’s in fashion.
Wines that are purely business lack soul. As a boy he disliked viticulture, probably because it was an obligatory weekend job and not a choice at the time. But the connection to nature was always there for him and he was lured away from a technical design job and back to the vineyards when his family acquired the property. Roberto’s key principle is safeguarding and preserving the soil for future generations. He’ll never wax on and participate in fake storytelling...he’ll only ask that you walk the vineyards and explore the wines to truly understand their unique expression.
The vineyard from which this wine hails was planted in 1969, with many different grapes in the same vineyard and even in the same row, a mix of Barbera, Grignolino, Freisa and probably a few other randos. Some of the Freisa goes into his class Piemontese red blend, Suetta, and the rest is for this delightful coppery rosato. This wine is so unusual for the region, with salty, savory watermelon and pomegranate, and a texture that feels more like an orange wine than a rosé. It makes an excellent and versatile food wine, but is also so interesting on its own that it may become your wintry aperitivo bottle, when white just feels too cold. And how cute would this little squirrel look with your holiday spread?