Nose
The bouquet is immediately appealing, clean-contoured and precise, and distinctive for its elegance and finesse. It releases pronounced floral and fruit notes, plus a refreshing crispness that takes on a pleasant, minerally tang, backgrounded by a fragrant yeastiness that is judicious and well-integrated, somewhat surprising considering the wine’s lengthy ageing.
Palate
The palate is notable for its evident cellarability yet immediate enjoyability, for a complex, creamy mousse that offers an unexpected degree of smoothness, and for its hint of sweetness. The wine demonstrates impressive balance between nose and palate, intensity of flavours, and an ultra-appealing, long-lived finish.
Growing Conditions
“Le Rive” is the name that designates the steepest slopes of our Conegliano-Valdobbiadene hills.
The grapes for our Rive Prosecco are painstaking selected from vineyards planted on a striking site on the Collalto hill, which lies to the north of the San Salvatore Castle.
The vineyard, more than a hectare in extent on the crown of the hill, is planted in morainic-origin soils and surrounded by a lovely wood that protects it.
Here, more than a thousand years ago, Princess Isabella’s ancestors settled, building the first castle. Its name, too, became theirs, and they later won the rank of Counts of Collalto.
Today, just as then, the Collalto family stewards these hills with the same intense love.
And that is the reason that we decided to name our Rive di Collalto ISABELLA: a tribute to Princess Isabella and to the family that has succeeded, over the course of a thousand years, in preserving these hills in their natural beauty.
- Vineyard location: Rive di Collalto
- Vineyard aspect: South
- Soil profile: Clay, morainic-derived
Harvest
- Yield: 120 q./hectare
- Harvest period: 1-10 September
Winemaking
The clusters are given a gentle pressing, after which the must is gravity-settled, then undergoes a controlled-temperature (18°C) fermentation in steel tanks.
The wine matures sur lie in steel for 3-6 months.
The Martinotti-Charmat Method is utilised to give the base wine its effervescence, and the sparkling wine then rests sur lie for a significant period, after which it is stabilised, filtered, and bottled with a pressure in the bottle of 4.5 atmospheres.
Aging
Eight months in steel pressure tanks, followed by 1-2 months in the bottle. months in the bottle.
Appearance
The wine displays a pale yet stylish straw-yellow, quite vibrant and luminous, even aristocratic, I would say. The bead, very long-lasting, is composed of tiny, almost pin-point bubbles.
Food Pairing
Rive di Collalto ISABELLA can be enjoyed throughout the meal, and in particular with preparations of fish, fried foods, and classic Veneto dishes such as nervetti (onion-seasoned pressed tendons of veal), fried brains of veal, and sauced bigoli. Best enjoyed at 6-8°C.
