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Gancia is the first Italian sparkling wine, since 1850, thanks to Carlo Gancia who, secretly worked in France to learn the production techniques of Champagne and repeated them in Piedmont, and more precisely in Canelli town (Asti district) . Here they used to work already with the Moscato variety (already used as a basis for Vermouth, another notorious alcoholic drink) which seemed to be perfect for spakling wine too thanks to its sweet aroma, that, at the time, was most appreciated.

underground cellars

underground cellars

Then, there were not restrictionsimposed by French about the terminology yet, so you could use, also outside the area of Champagne, the term “Champagne” to identify sparkling wines, as well as “Champenoise” (second fermentation in bottle, the classic method) and “Charmat” (second fermentation in big tanks) to identify methods of production. After many experiments on what, at the beginning, was called “Italian Champagne” Gancia was able to have success both in Italy and abroad until he felt the need to identify his product using italian terms.

So in 1865 he launched the first true “Italian sparkling wine”, in all senses since before 1861 Italy was not even an united nation. The numbers increased year by year and the company has transformed itself from artisanal one into an industry but preserving their own roots and expanding the range to meet the needs of different ages.

historic labels

historic labels

A stretch of wine history which is currently feasible accessing to the underground cellars. The historic cellars, in fact, have been carved out of the rock for miles and then used for experiments, refining, manufacturing in general. A tour that lets you immerse yourself in the past thanks to a path that includes historical documents and underpasses useful not only to better understand the company but the culture of those times and the art of farming then.

They are known as “Underground Cathedrals” in Canelli town that from June 2014 are included in the UNESCO Heritage, a symbol of pride and excellent result of commitment and hard work.

 

 

 

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