Asprinio

Producer: I Borboni
Vintage: Non-Vintage
Region: Campagnia
Varietal: Aspirino (100%)

"Asprinio is an endangered Italian grape variety that is only grown in a small area to the North West of Naples in Campania. Asprinio is rarely distributed outside of Campania and plantings of the Asprinio grape are falling.

I Borboni Vini (the producers behind this I Borboni Asprinio Spumante Brut) however are specialists in cultivating the Asprinio grape. A bulk wine producer from the start of the twentieth century until the 1980s, the name “I Borboni” was born following a modernisation of the I Borboni winery. Run by Nicola Numeroso, without I Borboni’s dedication to the Asprinio grape it seems unlikely that the Asprinio grape would have been awarded its own DOC designation (Asprinio di Aversa DOC) in 1993.

Cultivated in the centuries old “Aversana Alberata” fashion, with the Asprinio vines themselves growing up to 20 feet off the ground and strung between trees in the I Borboni vineyards, the Asprinio fruit destined for this I Borboni Asprinio Spumante Brut is picked by hand in the first week of September each year. Vinification for this Asprinio fruit is then in pressurized steel tanks, which results in a dry, “spumante” (fully sparkling) wine once fermentation is complete. The aging of this I Borboni Asprinio Spumante Brut is for four months in bottle in the tufa caves under the I Borboni winery.

In the glass, this I Borboni Asprinio Spumante Brut is a medium lemon colour. Alcoholic legs are limited when the wine is swirled, thereby depicting an alcoholic content of 12% abv. Aromatically, this I Borboni Asprinio Spumante Brut is moderately pronounced. Over-ripe lemon zest and grapefruit notes are indicative of the blisteringly hot Campanian summers. Crisp and dry in the mouth, this I Borboni Asprinio Spumante Brut shows intense tropical pineapple flavours, along with flavour of pear skins and lemon zest. The mousse of this I Borboni Asprinio Spumante Brut is fairly aggressive and persistent, with high acidity drawing the moderate to long palate of this I Borboni Asprinio Spumante Brut to a close.

Drink whilst young – do not cellar." - Independent Wine Review