nv Parusso, Rosé Langhe Nebbiolo Spumante, Metodo Classico, Piedmonte, Italy.
The Armando Parusso sparkling Nebbiolo, made in the Champagne method, is a handcrafted beauty by winemaker Marco Parusso, who’s winery in Barolo is famous for their powerful red wines from native varietals and especially their Nebbiolo(s) from from top sites like Rocche, where they got their start plus Mosconi and Bussia. Parusso, founded back in 1901 by Gaspare Parusso, didn’t start bottling estate wines until Marco’s dad, Armando started the family label in 1971 to pursue quality and a personal expression in the wines and his son Marco, who became involved at a very young age, has taken these wines to an exceptional level, and his wonderful dry, very Brut like and elegant Langhe Rosé Nebbiolo Spumante is a thrill in the glass, it’s a grower fizz that is a unique bubbly that shows class and terroir. This Rosé bubbly is vibrant and vivid with pretty copper/pinkish hue along with a delicate and caressing feel, but vigorous mousse that delivers riveting complexity on the palate showing mixed citrus, dried apricot, tart cherry and strawberry fruits as well as spice, rose petals, a touch of earth, tannin and leesy notes.
This exciting bubbly really needs rustic and robust cuisine to display its true nature, it deserves a matching meal and can without question became a centerpiece of an event, it easily handled a family style dinner when I sampled it, going wonderfully with an array of food choices, including everything from meyer lemon pizza to steamed mussels in garlic and wine broth, plus French fries and a burger! Marco employed classic techniques to make this Rosé Langhe Nebbiolo Spumante, which is listed as non-vintage and comes from Barolo hillside sites on sandy marl and clay soils, using a combination of stainless steel vats and large wood casks with a short maceration to extract that perfect color and then with a long cool ferment, which lasted close to a month before resting on the lees for about three years. There’s a lot of buzz about Italian sparkling wine, some is pure hype, but I must agree there is some magical stuff out there with a whole new generation dedicating themselves to quality, which is lifting everything to the next level, and the Piedmonte region has emerged as a hot spot with many intriguing surprises to discover like this rare one.
($49 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive