Alladium Passito – Dessert Wine

Alladium is the history of the Canavese area and of our estate. The vinification of passito or raisin wine is traditional here: it was produced by the local aristocrats and sold to restaurants in Turin. Some 19th century menus indicate it as “Sauterne di Caluso”. It can be said that the passito was born from a female idea of domestic economy: women used to hang the grapes in the fruit cellar to have fruit even in winter. We do the same today: we hang the grapes carefully, bunch by bunch, on traditional drying racks; a meticulous job. Erbaluce is a grape that keeps well and for a long time. Towards the end of winter, our grandmothers used to press the last remaining grapes with a wine press to make a sweet wine. Alladium was born with us in 1985 in Aglié, whose Latin name it bears.

Grape variety

Erbaluce

Vineyard characteristics

Pergola, in moraine soils. Altitude: approx. 320 m above sea level Exposure: south, south-westerly Average age: 30 years

Ageing

At least five years in wood

In the cellar

Work begins in the vineyard, where the best bunches of Erbaluce grapes are selected, the healthiest ones, with the thinnest berries, well-coloured by the sun. The grapes are dried naturally, according to an ancient local tradition, which involves hanging the bunches on special supports in ventilated rooms, hampering attack by mould and harmful bacteria, without however preventing noble rot from developing In January, we carefully check and select the bunches of grapes, which are delicately pressed in a small wooden press, the cold must settles and then fermentation begins. After ageing in small oak barrels for at least five years, the wine undergoes a further six months of bottle ageing

In the glass

Colour: old gold, shimmering.
Bouquet: enveloping, with scents of unrefined honey and candied lemon. Aromatic and musky.
Palate: sweet and fresh in the mouth. A stable structure characterised by breadth. Nicely warm, velvety without being heavy, with a pleasant hint of freshness in the finish.

With food

Pastries, dried fruit and nuts, blue cheeses, terrines and pâtés. A wine for meditation. An unusual aperitif. Ideal temperature: 12 – 14°C.