Manzoni Bianco is an Italian white grape variety bred in the 1930s by Professor Luigi Manzoni. Interestingly, to obtain the grape bearing his name, il Profesore Manzoni crossed two rather distinct varieties: Pinot Bianco with Riesling.
Pinot Bianco (or Pinot Blanc) is generally aromatically quite neutral, with a good acidity and textural palate. On the other hand, Riesling as we know, is rather intensely scented and can also produce textural and delicious wines.
Today’s Manzoni Bianco is produced by the Azienda Agricola Corvezzo based in the Veneto region in North-Eastern Italy. The Cantina Corvezzo produces a wide range of wines: reds, whites and sparklings (see full producer profile and further tasting notes through link at the end of the post).
This particular wine bears the Piave DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata), a region of the Veneto named after the Piave river that produces a delicious cheese of the same name that may actually match today’s wine, let’s find out…
So how good is this Manzoni Bianco?
As always, the answer in the tasting notes:
Appearance: a rather intense lemon color, slightly golden, it looks concentrated
Nose: Intense confit lemon, honey (mead-like scents), and confit pineapple. Exuberant nose packed full of tropical fruits (mango). This smells ripe and concentrated. Still fresh and vibrant thanks to esters (pear, lychee) and zesty citrus aromas (pink grapefruit, acidic orange).
Palate: The nose brings you to expect a little sweetness. There’s none here, it’s bone dry with a good citrusy acidity driving the palate balanced up by a mid-body and a great palate weight. It’s an explosion of citrus flavors, grapefruit in particular with the typical slight bitterness on the finish found in grapefruit as well as here. Tropical notes are here as well, together with some grassy characters. The finish is long on candied tropical fruit and fennel flavors.
Overall: A concentrated wine, yet very fresh and zingy. It’s pure primary fruit concentration. Balanced, long, quite complex. Delicious. It’s not that often you get a refreshing acidic wine with so much flavor intensity.
Food/occasion pairing: great for a summery aperitif or entrée (or to give the impression of summer to the start of a gathering) paired with anything that goes well with citrus, so virtually quite a lot of things: seafood obviously, subtle prosciutto, soft cheeses (so yes, the Piave cheese will go just fine!!), seafood, herbs and cream pasta. You’ve got the idea !! On main, match with delicate fish or shell dishes.
Drink now or within 2/3 years to make the most of the wine’s fresh zesty fruit characteristics. But I wouldn’t be surprised if this aged quite nicely revealing complex and intense notes of spices, wax and dried herbs.
Watch the cool YouTube Video as we poured this delicious wine, the most important moment when a wine is first revealed:
See the full profile of the producer at Azienda Corvezzo
Manzoni Bianco Wine Specifications as communicated by the producers are:
Classification: Manzoni Bianco DOC Piave
Vineyard Location: Cessalto Area
Grape Vairety: 100% Manzoni Bianco
Vines training system: Cordon
Maximum yield per hectare: 80 hl
Grape harvest: machine harvested
Vinification: soft pressing in reduction and maceration
Maturation: Steel and malolactic fermentation in cement tanks
Alcohol gradation: 13,0% abv.
Food pairing: This wine joins perfectly with dishes of Treviso tradition such as cod and white meats like rabbit.
Service Temperature: From 11 to 13 °C
Please let me know your thoughts