NV Valli Unite 'Il Brut and The Beast' Bianco Frizzante, Piedmont, Italy

Type: Sparkling
Producer: Valli Unite
Country: Italy
Region: Piedmont
Grape: Cortese
Year: NV
Farming: Organic

In southeast Piemonte, Valli Unite may be Italy’s only natural wine cooperative, where vineyards lie amid beehives, farm animals, orchards, and truffle filled woodlands. From honey to homemade salami, and wine between, 30 members work on the 100-hectare farm and call it home. During harvest, you can still stomp grapes with your bare feet here. Their wines range from the glou-glou bottlings of Alessandrino, Bianchino, and a crown cap farmer fizz, to more complex natural wines, such as their lithesome ‘Derthona,’ with the local Timorasso variety. “We believe natural vinification is a social responsibility” is the philosophy; soil humus, livestock manure, native yeasts, local grapes, time, and parsimonious sulphur compose the winning formula. Visit one morning, work hard, and then stay for the communal lunch. It’s a visit unlike any other winery – I mean working farm – that I’ve been to.