Alessandra Divella

Talent and terroir, a superb combination in Lombardy!

Sharing and passion are Alessandra Divella's watchwords. She did not take over a family estate but made land her own, shaping it in her image. She started at 28, out of love for wine and the land. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are all Alessandra needs to offer unfiltered sparkling wines, spontaneously fermented, with no dosage or sulphur. A superb expression of terroir from a talented winemaker who has nothing to envy the Champenois. One to try, bubble lovers!

The story of Alessandra Divella

A wine enthusiast for years, she met winemaker friends, discovered their craft and drew inspiration from their approach. In 2005, aged 28, Alessandra Divella took over 2 hectares of vines (1.5 hectares of Chardonnay and 0.5 hectares of Pinot Noir), farmed organically for 30 years, on the hills of Gussago in Lombardy, Italy. There she showcases Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with great passion, a passion born not of family inheritance but of many moments shared with other wine lovers. A pioneer of organic farming in her region, she is also the first woman to run an estate there. Despite her small vineyard, she offers 3 sparkling cuvées and produces 7,000 bottles a year.

Italian natural wine

From the outset she chose to stay out of the Franciacorta DOCG, notably because she feels it does not communicate seriously about the variety of the region's soils and their typicity. The eastern part of the region offers good climatic conditions for sparkling wines. Alessandra found what she was looking for on the terroirs of Gussago and Cellatica.

Gussago's clay and limestone land is fertile ground for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Lombardy's changeable climate brings minerality and acidity to the sparkling wines, for even more pep. Alessandra chooses barrel fermentation, which heightens the wines' roundness. They then age on the lees for 2 to 5 years. Her sparkling wines are made by the Champagne method, with characterful, incredibly precise bubbles. The wines age in cement tanks or old barrels until tirage. At bottling, a liqueur made from raw cane sugar triggers the effervescence. The bottles then rest horizontally on wooden slats for at least two years, for a second fermentation of striking complexity.

The wines of Alessandra Divella

Her wines are sulphur-free, ferment with native yeasts and have no dosage, to let the wine and its terroir speak. Blanc de Blancs is a 100% Chardonnay sparkling wine with no sulphur or dosage and striking complexity. High-quality bubbles that have nothing to envy the Champenois. Champagne lovers, it is worth the detour!