Bitter Pops® Sfera Rosato Rose Italy 1 Liter – 8761306808564

SFERA ROSATO 
in collaboration with COSSENTINO
Partinico (PA)
Lot 007.2021
80% Nero d’Avola, 15% Perricone, 5% Catarratto

A slightly chilled down liter bottle with a crown cap is just the thing for an apertivo or an impromptu dinner. We’ve been searching for the right PortoVino producer for Italian liters for a while. We knew we wanted with buckets of low alcohol deliciousness, yet not in that international glou-glou style where the soil, grape, and terroir gets washed out.

Sfera’s at once terroir-driven, but also an interesting take on liters, and bottling wine in general. As Sfera says on their quirky site: Cosmic Verve in a Grounded Italian Liter…From the Alps to the Mediterranean.  Sfera collaborates with multiple small certified-organic farmers to bottle liters in limited runs, and are keen to give the producer credit by clearly putting the winery’s name and providence on the back label.

This all means that the producers change, but front labels don’t. Another constant is that the wines are naturally made, and fall into certain guidelines that are lab tested before and after bottling. It’s a win-win, small certified organic producers get to do a fun liter project, and we get to explore Italy. 

These are great introduction to natural wines, grape varieties, and growing areas. Check out Sfera Litro’ site for a catalog of all their bottlings, including the future ones on deck.

From the Alps to the Mediterranean, SFERA is a collaboration with small certified-organic farmers to bottle Liters in limited runs. The winery selected by Sfera in this area is Cossentino; their vineyards are planted in red sand and red clay in a sort of amphitheater where the wind supports the grapes all year long and especially during hot summer days. A nice cool breeze comes from the Sea in night time. The area was covered by the sea, indeed in the vineyards it is still quite common to find sea fossils; Salt is very much the best friend of this area. Nero d’avola here grows very slowly and the breeze of the area helps to maintain lower alcohol and a medium structure. The essence is the Sfera Rosato style: natural colour coming from a No clarification process and energy. This wine has a specific identity thanks to Nero d’Avola and it’s also representative of the area. The red and black berries in the nose are surprisingly combined with a savoury aftertaste and a medium structure in the palate. The 1 liter format says this is a wine that is easy to drink; but this one has a body that asks for raw beef tartare as well as for lobster or crab. ________________________________________

REGION: Sicily GROWING AREA: Partinico (Palermo)

FARMING: Certified organic by Icea # T232 VINEYARD: 2.5 ha in two vineyards

ALTITUDE: 200 m / 400 ft 

SOILS: Red sands and clay, sea shells

VARIETIES: 80% Nero d’avola, 15% Perricone and 5% Catarratto

VINE AGE: 25-30 years old

VINE TRAINING: cordone speronato and guyot

HARVEST DATE: First weeks of September

FERMENTATION & ÉLEVAGE: direct press and spontaneous co-fermentation of all the grapes in stainless steel tanks. Élevage for 10 months in a stainless steel tank and then bottle aging. No clarification to keep the natural colour of the wine.

SULPHUR: 30 mg/L total added at bottling ALCOHOL: 12% 

PRODUCTION: 1,000 cases

https://www.sferalitro.com/