{"id":1959,"date":"2014-11-18T22:05:24","date_gmt":"2014-11-18T21:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.belpiemonte.com\/en\/?p=1959"},"modified":"2019-02-27T20:41:31","modified_gmt":"2019-02-27T19:41:31","slug":"cellar-full-of-bubles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.belpiemonte.com\/en\/cellar-full-of-bubles\/","title":{"rendered":"Cellar full of bubbles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Old cellars covering 5000 square meters, long lyrical illuminated corridors and lots of bottles with fermenting wine. While I was visiting the ancient basements of Contratto<\/strong><\/a>, a party took over the place above. The huge elegant courtyard, of the oldest Italian producer of millesimato metodo classico, <\/em>hosted a significant number of guests. This time I will not write about the reception (although I had so much fun and I don\u2019t remember when was the last time I danced so much\u2026), this article is about an unusual winery that can boast almost 150 years of tradition.<\/p>\n

\"Contratto,<\/a>
Contratto vineyard in Canelli<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Contratto,<\/a>
wine available in different size bottles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Contratto,<\/a>
party in Contratto vineyard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Contratto is situated in Canelli<\/strong>, a Piedmontese<\/strong> center of champagne-style sparkling wines. It\u2019s quite difficult to believe that this small town, with less than 11\u00a0000 residents, hosts two famous vineyards. In 1866 bothers Carlo and Edoardo Gancia<\/strong> transferred their wine company from Chivasso near Turin to Canelli, and one year later Giuseppe Contratto moved from Ivrea with an idea to make Italian spumante metodo classico<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Contratto,<\/a>
a small cellar with old vintages<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The biggest treasure of Contratto, despite the drink of the Gods, are the historic cellars. Walking\u00a0 into the underground I had an impression of entering into a different world both mysterious and exiting. At the beginning of my journey I’m confronted by semidarkness, while my eyes are adjusting to the dim lighting I can see a narrow alley with an impressive number of bottles filled with maturating wine. Only after a few steps I reach a larger room followed by long corridors and cozy corners with symmetrically arranged characteristic stands (pupitre<\/em>) with fermenting bollicine<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Contratto,<\/a>
one of the room with characteristic stands<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Contratto,<\/a>
increadible number of bottles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The cellars were built in 1872 with the labour of 200 people. It took 3 years to complete the construction into the heart of the hill protecting Canelli. The excavation\u00a0 goes down 32 meters, providing a constant temperature of 13\u00b0 Celsius\u00a0 and perfect humidity for fermentation in bottle.<\/p>\n

\"Contratto,<\/a>
picturesque cellars of Contratto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The vinery Contratto is famous for a long and prestigious tradition as bollicine<\/em> of Canelli used to satisfy the palate of the Italian Royal Family and the Vatican. \u201eFor England”<\/strong> , a wine much drier than French Champagne, was exported to the British Empire and its colonies since 1920.<\/p>\n

\"Contratto,<\/a>
bollicine tastes the best when served cold<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Contratto,<\/a>
lovers of vermouth should be satisfied as well<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1993 Contratto was sold to a local grappa producer \u2013 Carlo Bocchino and in 2011\u00a0 la Spinetta<\/strong><\/a> took over the winery. Today we can find both a rich collection of excellent sparkling wines (like CONTRATTO Blanc de Blancs Brut <\/strong>produced with Chardonay or\u00a0 CONTRATTO Millesimato Extra Brut <\/strong>made with 80%\u00a0 Pinot Noir and 20%\u00a0 Chardonay) and vermouths \u2013 a perfect aperitif or an ingredient of cocktails.<\/p>\n

For more information visit the official website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Old cellars covering 5000 square meters, long lyrical illuminated corridors and lots of bottles with fermenting wine. While I was visiting the ancient basements of Contratto, a party took over the place above. The huge elegant courtyard, of the oldest Italian producer of millesimato metodo classico, hosted a significant number of guests. This time I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[29,79],"class_list":["post-1959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contratto","tag-vineyard","tag-wine-tourism"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t