Vino Novello time is here!

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As you walk through the streets of Florence – what do you smell?

Roasted chestnuts, and that fresh brisk smell of fall setting in like a blanket covering the city. Today is also the first day to enjoy a lovely glass of vino novello.

Vino Novello’s literal translation is “young wine,” it is put through a complete different process than other red wines, which is where it gets its name. The process is called carbonic maceration; it involves speeding up the fermentation process, which only lasts 20 days. Therefore, making the wine “young” because it is using grapes that were picked just this past August/September, then turnsthe grapes into a wine nearly a month later. The method originated in France, but the production of  vino novello is now widespread in Italy. The Tuscany region is also a very large supplier of this wine and there are some really good ones out there!

Vino Novello is a lightweight wine; it has a lower alcohol content with a light aroma. The wine is very pleasant on a chilly fall day with a handful of chestnuts next to a warm fire. Today is the first day that you can find a glass of this delicious lightweight wine, and we fully recommend that you do!

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One last side note, there is an old tradition that follows this wine as well. The last day to enjoy it is I Giorni della Merla, literal meaning being, “the days of the blackbird”; said to be the coldest day of the year. Usually, around the end of January. If you are in the Tuscany region (and we always hope that you will be) around this time, be sure to pick up a glass of this wine before time runs out! Just like everything else in this world, it will only stays young for a little while.

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