2024 Cascina Feipu dei Massaretti Rossese Riviera Ligure di Ponente
Regular price $33.00
Cascina Fèipu dei Massaretti is a second-generation family winery just outside the coastal town of Albenga in Western Liguria (= Ligure di Ponente in Italian, or “the Liguria where the sun sets”). It is now run by daughters Ivana and Brunella Parodi and Brunella’s husband, Mirco. Their farming is practicing organic. Liguria is known for its white wines, often from vertiginous, terraced vineyards perched above the sea. But Western Liguria has as a specialty the wonderful and lithe red variety rossese. (There is also a little of it across the border in France, where it’s called tibouren.) Cascina Fèipu dei Massaretti’s version fermented with a short maceration of about a week and then aged briefly in stainless steel tanks.
The color is a lovely, pale ruby; the flavors are pure red fruits with subtle and seductive floral and herbal notes. (Ligurians say that rossese smells and tastes like rose hips.) It’s a wine that dances on the palate; prettiness with presence. There’s scintillating acidity and almost no tannin. Chill the wine for 20 minutes and then drink it with basil pesto dishes, such as the classic pasta al pesto genovese (pasta with green beans, potatoes, and basil pesto). Another excellent and traditional pairing is rabbit (or chicken) and olives braised in wine.