Sommossa Bonarda dell’Oltrepo Pavese DOC 2021
I recently participated in a lovely wine dinner in Boston put on by the Consortium Tutela Vini Oltrepò Pavese at Forcella in Boston, MA. We tasted a selection of wonderful wines highlighted in my recent series Oltrepò Pavese Wines. One wine in particular reminded me of a topic I had covered on my virtual tasting series on facebook.
I had served a Charbono wine. We learned that Charbono is the same varietal as Bonarda from Argentina. It has a red fruit profile, light, sometimes effervescent from carbonic maceration, cranberry, raspberry. I serve it chilled sometimes and it is wonderful as a sipping wine in the summer or with turkey for Thanksgiving.
At our dinner we enjoyed a Bonarda with a different profile. This Bonarda is made by Castello Luzanao, www.castelloluzzano.com. The difference is that this Bonarda is made with the varietal Croatina, as are the Bonarda’s in the region. In fact, there are 6 different grapes in the world that can produce a Bonarda.
“The actual, true Bonarda grapes are a group of at least 6 distinct Italian grape varieties, the most well-known of them is Bonarda Piemontese. To make things more confusing, there is also a slightly fizzy red wine labeled “Bonarda” from Oltrepò Pavese in Lombardy that’s actually made with Croatina grapes. And finally, some winemakers in Piedmont label wines as Bonarda, but they are actually made with a grape called Uva Rara… you know, just to make things more confusing.” https://winefolly.com/lifestyle/move-over-malbec-bonarda-is-argentina/
This wine is slightly effervescent and is lovely chilled. Giovannella Fugazza is the owner/ winemaker. She is incredible. I was fortunate to meet her when we traveled to the region last year. She has been a guest winemaker for the highly esteemed Leonardo DaVinci winery in Milan in 2019. https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/leonardo-da-vinci-vineyard-revived-in-central-milan-1642/
