The Extraordinary...
"The Extraordinary designation, for both wines and stones, is an idea I had to distinguish the marble extracted from our Ravaccione Gallery from that extracted in other quarries. Ordinary White is one of the most classic Carrara marbles: here we have the Extraordinary."
Francesca Dell'Amico
The Extraordinary is the brainchild of Francesca Dell'Amico. This is a classic method wine stored inside the gallery and made from indigenous grapes (vermentino and albarola) from the Apuan hills. The unique feature in the preparation of this wine is the microclimate of the quarry that remains constant (14° to 16°C). These are the stages of sparkling wine:
The base wine is prepared, often by blending wines from different grape varieties, vintages, or vineyards, to achieve the desired profile.
WINE PREPARATION
A mixture of sugar and yeast, known as liqueur de tirage, is added to the base wine, and the bottle is temporarily sealed with a crown cork, often in combination with a bidule, to retain the yeast and facilitate sediment collection. This starts the second fermentation inside the bottle.
ADDITION OF LIQUEUR DE TIRAGE
The bottles are placed back in Cava Fantiscritti - Ravaccione to begin the process that will lead to yeast autolysis. The carbon dioxide developed in the bottles will produce a pressure of about 6 atmospheres.
PRISE DE MOUSSE or PRISE DE SPUMP.
The bottles rest in a horizontal position, allowing aging on the lees for a period ranging from 9 to 60 months.
AGING ON LEES
The bottles are placed on special wooden stands, called pupitres, where they are rotated 1/8 turn daily. At each end of the turn, the inclination of the bottles is varied, from 20° up to 60°. This allows the slow fall of the lees (mainly spent yeast) to collect toward the neck of the bottle over 1-2 months.
REMUAGE SUR PUPITRES
This step involves freezing the neck of the bottle where the lees are trapped in a small cylinder of ice that is then expelled by the pressure created inside the bottle.
DEGORGEMENT or FLOODING (à la glace).
After degorgement, the bottle is tamped down with the dosing syrup known as liqueur d'expedition (jealously guarded by every winery) and finally the bottle is corked with a cork (birondellato) and cage.
DOSAGE LIQUEUR D'EXPEDITION
Finally, we move on to packaging, which is entirely done by hand. A copper label (unique for each bottle) is made with the words "Extraordinary" embossed on it. The neck of the bottle, as if it were that of a noblewoman, is adorned with a diamond pearl jewel. The whole, is then powdered with marmettola, dust from our precious marble. To date there are about 100 bottles, between those stored in a marble tub in our Quarry and those stored in wooden boxes with sliding lids, also made of Carrara marble.
CRAFT PACKAGING
Cheers !
