Moscato Rosa Trentino DOC

THE PRIDE AND PRODIGY OF CASA GIRELLI

Moscato Rosa is the prodigy of Casa Girelli's i Mesi line of DOC wines from Trentino, and one of Italy's rarest and most sought-after dessert wines. Produced in extremely limited quantities in only the best vintages, this precious wine is made from the finest, hand-picked and carefully selected Moscato Rosa grapes, renowned for their rose bouquet, from the Cognola area of Trentino's steep-sloped, clay-soiled vineyards.

Although Giallo Moscato grapes are found more easily in Trentino, Moscato Rosa is extremely difficult to grow successfully. Not only can it be problematic for the grapes to reach optimum maturity, but each bunch ripens at different times, and therefore grapepickers are required to return frequently to the same vines. For these reasons, grapegrowers prefer to cultivate only small quantities of Moscato Rosa which results in the entire limited DOC production rarely exceeding 20,000 liters.

The tempramental Moscato vines are trained high above the ground on the traditional pergola trellises that have become the trademark of Trentino. Here, the bunches of grapes enjoy maximum sun exposure and relief from humidity to help them to reach ultimate maturity and resist disease. According to the vintage, grapes are picked around mid-October, and if conditions allow, the whole bunches are then dried in airy lofts for up to three months. This drying is termed "appassimento," the process practised most to create the big, alcoholic Amarone wines. In mid-January, the Moscato Rosa grapes, having lost around 30% of their weight, are concentrated in sugars, tannins and aromas. They are softly pressed and vinified with the traditional red-wine technique on skin for 12-15 days. 20% of the rich, sweet juice is fermented and aged six months in small Allier French oak barrels (225 litres), while the remaining 80% is fermented and aged in stainless steel; six months later, the 20% barrel-aged wine is blended into the rest and aged at least one year in stainless steel tanks.

Using Casa Girelli's state-of-the-art bottling lines, the wine is at last transfered into elegant 375 ml slim, tall-necked bottles, each individually numbered, that were especially designed and created for Casa Girelli, with the winery name embossed in the glass. This sophisticated packaging perfectly reflects the quality of the delicate wine it contains.

Served slightly chilled, the intricate rose bouquet, intense red-berry palate and long smooth finish of this slightly sweet wine for connoisseurs should be slowly savored as, or with, the quintessential dessert.

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