Now owned by the Marenco family, who are Moscato and Brachetto specialists, the 11 hectare Contero estate remains one of the best producers of invigoratingly delicious Moscato d’Asti and Brachetto d’Acqui. The vineyards are situated on steep hills, on tufaceous-marl soils, in a perfect amphitheatre in the commune of Strevi (the heart of one of the best zones for Moscato in Piemonte).

The Val Contero vineyards are situated in a perfect amphitheatre in Strevi, the heart of one of the best zones for Moscato in Piemonte. The vineyards are superbly tended and produce fruit of stunning quality. The vines are Guyot trained with 4,800 vines planted per hectare. They are planted on steep tufaceous-marl hills with sandstone layers.

2021 began with a cold and snowy winter, with some vineyards damaged by frosts in April. May continued slowly with low temperatures and a scarcity of rain. Higher temperatures in June allowed for the delay in ripening to be recovered, with good flowering and fruit set. Some damage caused by heat stroke was seen across the whole region in August. The harvest started a little earlier than the previous year for the Moscato grapes. The quality of the harvest was good, with particularly good levels of acidity noted - an indispensable quality for sweet but not cloying wines.

Grapes were hand harvested into wooden boxes. The grapes were gently pressed and the must was filtered and kept in stainless steel tanks for cold-preservation, to maximize the fragrance. Over the course of the year, the must was fermented at controlled low temperatures. The wine was drawn from the vat with an alcohol content of 5%, then stabilized before being bottled under pressure to maintain a slight sparkle.