Antico 2019 Sparkling Orange, Cantina Furlani 11.5%

Lightly floral, toasted almonds, bright acidity. 750ml

Born on the alpine slopes of the Vigolana mountain in northern Italy, this milky pale sparkling nosiola from Cantina Furlani is not your average bottle of ‘fizz’. Beneath its dried-fruit-and-spice nose lies an impeccably fresh, herbaceous and gentle soul, unfined and unfiltered and with no added sulphur to let nature’s artistry speak for itself. Year on year, winemaker Matteo Furlani takes his humble hectares of vines housing a vast array of native grape varieties, of which nosiola is a very unique example. Fresh and with a real taste of the mountains, this Antico has an almost creamy, aged-champagne finish. It is surely the hardest challenge as a winemaker to allow each grape variety you look after to express its unique characteristics but at Furlani, year on year, they manage to do just that. If you’ve never tried a sparkling nosiola before, you’re in for something very special.