Those of you regular to the shelves of Biondivino over the past years will have no doubt come across the delicious and soulful wines of our beloved Oltrepò Pavese naturalistas, and dear friends, Castello di Stefanago. The brains, brawn, and beauty behind the Emilia Pennac project, Silvia Giani, also happens to be the wife of one of Stefanago’s head stewards, Jacopo Burrafaldi. In short, it’s all in the family! Having taken ownership of her parents' small, organically-farmed property, Silvia set about crafting wines in their tiny cellar, drawing inspiration, understanding, and technical guidance from her husband’s hands-off approach to wine in an effort to capture a feel and a style that hallmarked so many of the joyful and agrarian wines that emanated from the Oltrepò throughout its winemaking heyday in the 1960s and 70s. She’s now one of our favorite frizzante producers, a big-hearted rabble-rouser whose zero-zero wines are just as infectiously charming as they are impeccably made…and who also happens to have the cutest labels in the game.
The quintessential Oltrepò blend of Barbera, Croatina, and Uva Rara, ‘BCur’ takes a classic combo and runs it through a more lo-fi lens, for a juicy, vibrant pet-nat take on the region. Once harvested, grapes see spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts and a brief 5-day maceration; the wine, unfiltered and naturally decanted, is then bottled with the addition of previously preserved must. Fast forward a few months, and with the favor of warmer spring temperatures and the indigenous yeasts present in the must, fermentation starts again; such a traditional, truly hands-off approach to carbonation can lead to a gentler effervescent and some bottle variation in fizz-level (simply put: your mileage may vary!) Plush and candy-inflected red and black fruits, cool and clean forest foliage, oolong tea spice and a tannic bite bring voice to the earthy and dark personality of the Oltrepo as much as it does the wine's bright and youthful fruit. Serve fully chilled and – as Pennac, Silvia’s dearly departed pup, bids on the bottle – may the bubbles be with you!