Ca' D'Gal Moscato D'Asti Lumine 2018
SKU
CDGM201810 UCAU
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Refreshing, light and fruity wine
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Balanced sweetness, acidity and alcohol
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One of the great wines of Asti
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1 or more bottles$39.99
Editors notes
This intensely perfumed, super fine Moscato is drawn from an amphitheatre of sandy, chalky slopes that circle Sandro Boido's winery. These steep, chalky vineyards--the kind that dominate the Santo Stefano Belbo commune--are prized for tempering Moscato's heady fruits with freshness, mineral energy and perfume. This area has long been recognised as one of Moscato d'Asti's most prized terroirs and Boido's hand-tended, organically managed vines here average around 30 years of age.
Lumine may be Ca' d'Gal's 'entry' Moscato but it is already a striking, pulpy, mouth-watering wine with a lifted, heady perfume of yellow flowers, crystalline stone fruits and fresh citrus; complexed by sweet herb and loads of acacia. Lumine means 'to illuminate', and this exceptional Moscato ignites the palate with layers of perfumed, silky fruit that finishes with precision and juicy, sorbet-like freshness. It's an exceptional Moscato that's very fairly priced vis-à-vis the quality.
Details
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Wine Type
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Variety
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Brand
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Oak Type
Tasting Profile
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Light (Light)Full (Full)
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Low Tannin (Low Tannin)Tannic (Tannic)
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Sweet (Sweet)Dry (Dry)
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Low Acidity (Low Acidity)High Acidity (High Acidity)
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Aroma
- Grape
- Mineral
- Musk
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Palate
- Musk stick
- Pear
- Rockmelon
Food Pairings
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Cheese -
Dessert
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Locations
Italy
Italy has some of the oldest wine production methods in the world and almost every part of the country is planted under vine. From the Alps in the north to the very southernmost parts of Sicily where Africa is almost in sight, wine is successfully cultivated. In addition to the latitude covered, Italy's many mountains and hills provide a plethora of altitudes for grape growing in various soils and micro-climates. The extensive coastlines along the peninsula that is Italy provide maritime climates for the coastal wine-growing areas. Over 350 grape varieties are 'authorised' in Italy, though up to 550 varieties are thought to be grown.
The classification system of Italian wines has four classes, with the intention of defining a wine's origin a quality. Two of these classes are table wines, whilst DOC and DOCG fall under the EU quality wine produced in a specific region category. Vino da Tavola (VDT) means that the wine comes from Italy. Most of these wines are generally basic table wines that are consumed domestically. Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) denotes a more specific region within Italy, and the resultant will be of higher quality than simple table wines, but won't conform to the rules required for higher certification. Both Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) and Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) are regionally more specific than IGT, and have stricter rules regarding the grape varieties grown, yields per hectare, minimum alcohol levels and so on. The major difference between DOC and DOCG is that the latter has to undergo a blind-tasting session to ensure the highest quality is achieved. Italy has 32 DOCG appelations, 311 DOC appelations and 120 IGT zones.
Key regions include Piedmont, Tuscany, Abruzzo, Veneto, Sicily and Sardinia. Common white varieties grown are Pinot Grigio, Arneis, Vermentino, Verdicchio, Fiano and Moscato. The red varieties grown the most are Sangiovese, Barbera, Dolcetto, Nebbiolo, Montepulciano, Primitivo, Nero d'Avola and Corvina.
Piedmont
Piedmont (Piemonte in Italian) is probably the finest wine region in all of Italy, and has laid claim to this since Roman times. It has a continental climate influenced by the surrounding Alps and Ligurian Apennines, and is located in the north-west of Italy, bordering both France and Switzerland.
Piedmont has only 1% of the total vineyards of Bordeaux and 15% that of Burgundy. So while a top Chateaux may produce upwards of 35,000 cases a year, leading Barolo producers will often make only 800 cases. More than half of its vineyards are registered with DOC designations and many are in the Apennine or Alpine foothills, from 300-600m above sea level. Most of the wines are produced by smaller family estates rather than larger holdings.
Piedmont has 46 different DOC and four DOCG regions, and produces the largest number of well known, world-recognized, prize-winning wines. The most famous would have to be Barolo or Barbaresco, whose power comes from the Nebbiolo grape variety. The most widely planted red variety is Barbera although Dolcetto, Muscat, Shiraz and Bonarda are also produced.
The white variety most well known is Moscato, which is often made into frizzante (bubbly) wines known as Asti. Cortese is made into the popular Gavi wines, and smaller amounts of Chardonnay and high quality Sparkling are also produced in the far north of Piedmont.
Asti
Asti is a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) in the southeastern part of Italy’s Piemonte region. The DOCG is known for four main styles of wine: Moscato d’Asti, a sweet, low-alcohol, lightly sparkling white wine; Asti, another low-alcohol sparkling white; Asti Metodo Classico, which is similar to Asti but undergoes a secondary fermentation in bottle similar to that of Champagne; and Vendemmia Tardiva, a late-harvest sweet white. The primary grape variety for each of these wines is Moscato Bianco. Plantings of the Barbera black grape, the most grown variety in Piemonte, are also concentrated around Asti, and some amazing examples of Barbera wines come from here.
About the brand Ca' d'Gal
Tucked up in the Valdivilla hills, about 15 kilometres west of Barbaresco and in the commune of Santo Stefano Belbo, is where you will find Sandro Boido’s Ca’ d’Gal, source of some of Piemonte’s most inspiring Moscato d’Asti. Surrounding the Ca’ d’Gal farmhouse – which multi tasks as a very attractive B&B and restaurant – lies the Estate’s 6.5-hectare amphitheatre of sandy, calcareous slopes. These sand-rich slopes – the kind that dominate this commune – are prized for complexing Moscato’s heady perfume and have become regarded as one of Moscato d’Asti’s blue-ribboned terroirs. It’s no surprise then that this commune is home to the highest concentration of Moscato vines in Piemonte – almost all of the vineyards are planted with this variety. In the Ca’ d’Gal vineyards there is also a prized plot of old, pre-clonal, 55-year-old vines where the soil strays into seams of limestone-rich blue tufa. The fruit from this wine is bottled as a separate old vines bottling: a complex, frothy testament to Moscato, the landscape and the people who make this special place work.
If it was Ca’ d’Gal’s modus operandi to confront drinkers assumptions about what Moscato can and should be all about, then Boido is certainly going about it the right way. He is probably best known for releasing single vineyard Moscato with age although the story goes much further than this. In line with many of Europe’s finest growers, Boido has eliminated herbicides and pesticides in the vineyard and he also crops Ca’ d’Gal’s Moscato vines at yields that are well below the permitted norm (circa 100 hl/ha). In fact yields for the Luminae bottling are around the same as a conscientious Champagne grower’s, and dip towards 40 hl/ha (i.e., grand cru Burgundy levels) for the old-vines cuvée. Another key to Boido’s game changing, aromatically complex wines is his no-hold-barred approach to grape ripeness. Against-the-fashion, Boido crafts his wines from well-ripened grapes picked “yellow like polenta”, like the old days (as opposed to the half-green fruit that goes to supply much of the commercial Moscato d’Asti for the international market). That he manages to work with super ripe fruit without loss of acidity and freshness is a testament to the health of his vines, the low yields with which he works, and the fact that he hand harvests. The wines are also vinified using spontaneous ferments (a rarity these days) in closed vat with extended lees contact, and, in another statement of intent, Boido only bottles in full bottles—half bottles compromise quality and so they are refused (no half measures here!)
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