Once Upon a Time… the Ancestral Method
Once upon a time, long ago, when vineyards were intertwined with legends and wine was born more from magic than science, there was a people who spoke to the wind and the land. In a valley hidden among the rolling hills of old Champagne, winemakers used an ancient art, passed down by word of mouth under the scorching sun and full moons. They called it simply “the grandparents’ way,” but today the world knows it as the Ancestral Method, or for the French, Pétillant Naturel.
In those days, there were no performance machines or strange additives. The grapes were picked by hand, kissed by the sun and cradled by the wind, and the juice fermented slowly, listening to nature. But the real magic happened later: when the wine, still fermenting, was bottled without rushing and unfiltered. No added yeast—only the wild ones, the true ones, sleeping on the skins like little vineyard spirits.
And so, in the stone cellars, the bottles began to murmur softly, full of life. The second fermentation was happening in there, in the glass, without anyone having to wake up the wine.
The lees—the dead yeasts, as they call them now—were not removed. No, they were left there, like wise old men to guard the wine, to give it body, soul and some truth. No disgorgement, no interference—this wine had to speak for itself.
And like every true story, this one had its oath: “No added sulfites,” the winemakers said, looking at the sky and the soil. “Only what nature wants.”
So, when you open a bottle of this slightly cloudy but full of life wine, please remember that there is more inside than just must and bubbles…. There is an ancient history.
Once upon a time, it was born Fabulas Spumante Brut Ancestrale.
APPELLATION
Sparkling Wine Pecorino
Color: WHITE
GRAPES
Pecorino
PRODUCTION AREA
Municipality of Pretoro 602 m a.s.l. The vineyards are located in the agricultural landscape of the Maiella Park where the millennial presence of men has preserved of an agricultural biodiversity elsewhere disappeared.
GRAPE ORIGINS
Vine of uncertain origins, whose grape are considered delicious by the sheep, from which perhaps the name
originates. It was particularly widespread throughout the Abruzzo region before the appereance of phylloxera.
It was gradually abandoned to make room for more productive varieties such as Trebbiano.
IN THE VINEYARD
Fabulas vineyard is an element of great agronomic and naturalistic value. The sheeps provide the natural and smart
control of native spontaneous flora and the natural fertilization bringing the animal spirit in the vineyard. Machining
is minimized. From the location of the vineyards on one side of the mountain it is easy to understand that from a
phytosanitary point of view the plants require little intervention and they are related only to the use of copper and sulfur.
Soil
The soils are of medium mixture tending to calcareous and have retained their natural fertility thanks to the poor exploitation of the soil by man.
Breeding System
Pergola abruzzese
Harvesting
Handpicked in wooden boxes and in willow and cane baskets.
IN THE CELLAR
The ancestral sparkling wine technique is based on fermentation in a tank blocked at a sugar content (cooling of
the must to 6°C and 18g/lt of residual sugar) that guarantees the second fermentation after bottling without the
addition of sucrose. The wine referments in the bottle and the maturation of the sparkling wine occurs “sur-lie” or
on its own yeasts that give a cloudy and opaque appearance, in contrast with the brilliance and luminosity of the
bubbles of conventional sparkling wines. SPARKLING WINE OBTAINED WITH THE “ANCESTRAL TECHNIQUE” IS NOT
TO BE CONFUSED WITH BRUT NATURE, PAS DOSÉ OR DOSAGGIO ZERO SPARKLING WINES AS THESE REQUIRE THE
ADDITION OF SUCROSE DURING REFERMENTATION FOR THE SECOND FERMENTATION.
IN DEGUSTAZIONE
Sight
Pale straw colour impenetrable to the eye due to its natural turbidity. Fine and persistent perlage.
Nose
Fruity and citrus notes emerge, with a vague hint of yeast.
Mouth
Decisive freshness and a long, convincing finish with a pleasant savouriness
IN SERVIZIO
Abbinamenti
Elaborate first courses, white meats, fish and shellfish.
Temperatura
6-8°C
CERTIFICAZIONI
Vino Biodinamico
