n.v. Vicara, Domino, Brut Rosé, Monferrato, Piemonte, Italy.
Made from 100% Grignolino and done in a dry Brut style, the Vicara Domino Spumante Rosé is a lovely fresh and vivid none vintage method traditional sparkling wine made from grapes grown in the Monferrato zone of Piemonte and is a delicious way to start a meal and or just celebrate the day. This crisp and lively bubbly has some substance to it and can go with many cuisine choices and dishes, it has some tangy mixed citrus, strawberries, sour cherry and stone fruit element on the palate, along with hints of rose florals, bread dough, mineral tones and slight herbal note. The label of the Vicara Domino features a cartoon by Pulitzer Prize winner Rube Goldberg, the winery notes, depicting a convoluted “domino effect” culminating in a popped bottle. The illustration ironically, Vicara adds, describes the heterogeneity, the intricate mechanism, and the creativity behind the creation of each wine. But “domino effect” also has another meaning, as the winery explains, once you open a bottle, you can’t help but open another. Of which, I might tend to agree with, especially with this unique and fun Grignolino Rosé sparkler. This wine kind of lured me into the lineup of Vicara at the San Francisco Slow Wine event and I was thrilled to them all to be excellent offerings, especially their Barbera bottlings.
From what I gathered at Slow Wine, the Vicara Winery is a small family-owned and operated estate that is focused almost exclusively on Barbera wines using sustainable and eco-friendly methods. Their Monferrato vineyards are situated in a picturesque valley that has long been a home to Barbera and that provides the perfect growing conditions for their efforts, giving depth and ripeness, but having good balance, helping deliver the house and elegant detail I found in their Cascina Rocca 33 bottling. I had a good experience with all of the Vicara wines I tried, and being an absolute nut for Barbera, I very gravitated to their delicious examples at the Slow Wine tour stop in San Francisco. That all said, Vicara takes Grignolino pretty serious too, with theirs, not just a “simple” Grignolino, with it seeing a 24-month maturation in Austrian oak barrels, followed by an equally long aging period in the bottle! Plus Vicara does a Freisa as well, another rare native varietal that is gaining more attention these days, so those two bottlings are ones that I would love to try soon. Back to Barbera, again the main focus here, Vicara’s Vulpuva Barbera del Monferrato DOC was also a wine that very much impressed me and one would recommend for those wanting to get to know these wines.
($25 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive