Are you looking for something light and refreshing for a hot summer evening? Better yet, low in alcohol (5.5% for our wine of the week) so that you can sip it without regret the next morning? I’ve got just the thing for you – a Brachetto d’Acqui from Italy’s Piedmont region. It’s a fun wine – nothing too serious, just sip and enjoy as an aperitif or pour it for dessert.
Still not not convinced? Legend has it that both Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony heard that it was a powerful aphrodisiac and sent copious amounts to Cleopatra, who poured copious quantities when they came to call. There you go, the bottles are flying off the shelf now.
Brachetto d’Acqui is produced from the Brachetto grape in the Acqui zone of Italy’s Piedmont region, not far from the famous Barolo and Barbaresco zones. There are three styles of Brachetto d’Acqui: the basic lightly sparkling ("frizzante") red wine (our wine of the week), the fully sparkling spumante and the sweeter, non-sparkling passito. Look for the basic Acqui.
- Brachetto d’Acqui is a DOCG, Italy’s highest quality designation, but don’t let that mislead you – it’s a good but not great wine. Most Brachetto d’Acqui is produced using the “Charmat” method, where the wine is fermented in a large, pressurized vat, then bottled and sent to market without aging. Because not all of the grape sugar is fermented to alcohol, the Acqui wines have relatively low alcohol levels and a noticeable sweetness. The Charmat method is an "industrial" scale process - unlike the traditional (Champagne) method, where the second fermentation occurs in the bottle and the wine is aged.
- Typically Brachetto d’Acqui is delicate and aromatic, with hints of red fruit and roses. It’s known for its sweetness, elegance, delicacy and smoothness. These are wines meant to be drunk within a year or two, and they should be served at 50 to 55 degrees F.
Our Wine of the Week is a 2017 Acquesi Brachetto d’Acqui "Valle della Rose" (about $15 retail). It’s produced by a cooperative, but it's good quality (that’s not always the case with coop wines). The first thing that you'll notice about this wine is that the acidity and effervescence balance out the sweetness, so it doesn’t seem overly sweet. Instead, it leaves you wanting more. Typical of an Acqui, it displayed intense strawberry, red apple and a hint of rose on nose and palate. It’s light bodied and medium sweet. If you can’t find this wine, another good, widely-available producer is Banfi.
Pairings. Brachetto d’Acqui is a perfect pairing for fruit desserts, such as strawberries or peaches, and pound cake with vanilla ice cream. Try it with a strawberry shortcake! It also pairs well with fruit tarts, fruit salads, panna cotta and amaretto cookies. And, it’s one of the few wines that pairs well with chocolate.
Cheers!
The process sounds similar to the Venetian region bubbly
Exactly! The Proseccos from the Veneto region are made using the glera grape and the same Charmat process, in which the wine undergoes a second fermentation in pressurized tanks rather than the bottle. One difference is that the fermentation is stopped earlier for the Acqui – resulting in lower pressure and lower alcohol. Prosecco was the first wine in Italy to use the Charmat process.