Fontanafredda, "Monfresco", Piemonte DOC Barbera Vivace

Interesting facts

"Monfresco", Barbera Vivace, 2011 — young, fresh wine with classic Piedmontese character, with a lively aromatic bouquet, harmonious and modern taste. The estate with the beautiful name Fontanafredda, means "cold fountain" is a remarkably romantic story of its origin. This is a love story of the Italian king Victor Emmanuel II and Archduchess Rosa of Mirafiori, who was born the daughter of a soldier. Seeing a young fourteen beauty, the king loved her for many years, and after the death of your lawful spouse, did the Contessa Rosa di Mirafiori and Fontanafredda and his wife. Despite the marriage, the children of the Roses could not claim the throne and had to worry about his future. One of the wonderful gifts of his beloved king was hunting reserve of Serralunga d'alba. After the death of the Duchess it was inherited by her son the Duke Emanuele Alberto di Mirafiori. Despite all its splendor, the reserve could hardly feed the son of the monarch, so in 1878 he founded the winery and it becomes a real king of Italian wines.Currently the estate covers over 70 acres of beautiful land in the Piedmont. The estate vineyards are located in the territories of the communes of Barolo, Serralunga d'alba and Diano d'alba. In most of the grape fields (40 ha) is grown Nebbiolo grapes, and the rest of the to equally grow Chardonnay, Moscato, Barbera and Dolcetto. In 1931, Fontanafredda became the property of one of the oldest Italian Bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (Monte dei Paschi).Today, Fontanafredda is the co-owner of Oscar Farinetti — known Italian businessman and founder of the movement "slow food". The company is one of the largest wineries and produces over 4 million bottles of sparkling wine and 2.5 million bottles of "quiet" wines. The wines produced are part of its own raw materials, and partly from raw materials farmers with small vineyards and have signed long-term contracts with Fontanafredda. Thus, Fontanafredda produce a wide range of worthy Piedmontese wines that fit perfectly in the wine lists of the best restaurants and consistently receive high ratings from wine critics. The world famous Robert Parker calls Fontanafredda "one of the great names of wine of Piedmont".

Tasting Characteristics