Millesimato (2021)

About this wine

Contratto Millesimato 2021 Alta Langa is a bright, tightly focused sparkling wine that leans into freshness and detail rather than softness. Expect aromas of lemon peel, green apple, brioche, and white peach, with a faint floral lift that keeps it feeling energetic. On the palate, those notes turn into Meyer lemon, pear, almond, and bread crust, carried by a very fine bead and a clean mineral edge. The blend is built from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the classic grapes of Alta Langa, and in this bottling Pinot Noir takes the lead, which gives the wine a little more shape and savory depth than a purely Chardonnay based style. Contratto has been part of Italy’s sparkling wine story since the 1800s, and the house was already making vintage dated bottles long before that became common across much of the country, which gives this wine a real sense of place and continuity. Alta Langa itself is always vintage dated, and that millesimato identity comes through here in a wine that feels brisk, polished, and distinctly Piedmontese.

About the grape

Pinot Noir in this bottling traces its role as the red variety adapted to Alta Langa because it gives structure and aromatic lift, and Contratto sources it from high altitude vineyards around Bossolasco where vines sit near 700 to 750 meters above sea level on sandy calcareous soils with silty top layers. Chardonnay brings acidity and finesse, it is historically Burgundian in origin but in Alta Langa it is cultivated to retain freshness through low yields, careful canopy management and very gentle whole cluster pressing before base fermentation. Both varieties are grown and blended specifically for Metodo Classico production under the Alta Langa DOCG rules that require high altitude sites and marly calcareous soils, and Contratto has focused on clonal selection and vineyard parcels in the upper rows to emphasize acidity and structure. The long tradition of Contratto dating back to 1867 and recent plantings and acquisitions in Alta Langa support a viticultural approach that prioritizes cool climate ripening, strict yields and site specific selection for this Millesimato vintage.

Quick facts

• 📅 Contratto’s Millesimato is always vintage-dated, a deliberate choice that highlights the personality of the single harvest rather than a non-vintage blend.
• 🏛️ Contratto traces a sparkling-wine milestone back to 1919 when it made Italy’s first dry millesimato, giving the house a long legacy in Metodo Classico production.
• ⛰️ The cuvée is 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay sourced from high-altitude Bossolasco vineyards, which lend the wine a pronounced mineral and chalky tension.
• 🍋 This Millesimato is finished pas-dosé (no added sugar), so its sensation of fruit and texture comes entirely from grape, lees aging, and vintage character rather than dosage.
• 🫧 Contratto performs traditional hand riddling and leaves the wines on their lees for around three to four years, creating an exceptionally fine perlage and autolytic complexity.

Palate profile

Producer

Founded in 1867 by Giuseppe Contratto in Canelli, Italy, Contratto is renowned as the oldest producer of traditional method sparkling wines in the country. In 1919, the winery made history by producing Italy's first vintage-dated sparkling wine, the Extra Brut 1919. The estate's impressive underground cellars, excavated by hand and reaching depths of up to 38 meters, were recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2014. Over the years, Contratto has been the official supplier to prestigious clients, including the Vatican and the Italian royal family.