Contratto

ONE OF THE BEST ITALIAN SPARKLING HOUSES

Contratto has over 145 years of distinguished history. The winery was the first in Italy to make vintage “metodo classico” sparkling wine. In the 1920s and 1930s, it was the Contratto bubbles that were requested by the Vatican and the royal houses of Europe. In fact, the wines were exported to the far corners of the British Empire to be enjoyed by ambassadors and colonial governors.

The vinification is done according to classic method standards. After the initial alcoholic fermentation the base wines are vinified separately, then are aged for 8 months in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats. A second fermentation takes place in bottle for a good six weeks and is further enhanced with bottle aging on the lees for a minimum of 3 years in Contratto’s underground cellars at a constant temperature of 13°C. The wine is riddled by hand to collect the sediments, then disgorged by machine and closed by its final cork. Another aging process of one year in the cellar refines the wine until it is finally released for sale.

In 2011, Contratto was bought by La Spinetta and thus there is a little La Spinetta rhino on the upperback label of every Contratto bottle.

Official Website: http://www.contratto.it/

You may be also interested in…
LA SPINETTA

La Spinetta auquisited Contratto in 2011