“Valentìne” is the fruit of Valentina’s desire, the second daughter of Casa Baio and also her direct experimentation with Chardonnay grape vinification.
Born among the vineyards and the cellar like her sisters Paola and Federica, in a family of wine artisans and viticulturists, Valentina rediscovers her innate passion for this grape variety at the age of 24.
After a few years since graduating from the School of Oenology in Alba and working at the family cellar, Valentina sets out to discover Burgundy in 2013, and thanks to Domaine De Montille (one of the greatest names in Burgundy and the world), she has the opportunity to work for a few months during the harvest.
In this small cellar, in the village of Meursault, she begins the adventure of discovering French winemaking and her true passion. The embryo “Valentìne” and her first experiments are born in the following years, and upon her return to Ca’ del Baio, where her father Giulio Grasso allows her to experiment with a small part following “the Burgundian recipe”.
Starting from the oldest Chardonnay vineyards planted in Treiso in 1985 on a white, calcareous soil with sandy marls and north-east exposure, the fruits that arrive in the cellar are pressed, and the obtained must undergoes a decantation overnight at room temperature.
It is precisely here, during the “soutirage” phase from the tank to the two 500-liter French oak barrels, that the fermentation process and the yeast metabolism start the transformation of sugar into alcohol.
Essential to respect the purity of the grape and its balance with the wood.
The entire process is then accompanied by some weekly “batônnage” to enrich and remix the wine with its noble lees. The first transfer from wood to steel is then carried out as much as possible with the approach of the new vintage, where the wine is left to rest for a few more months (and it is here that the wine acquires vertical tension) before being bottled without filtration. Everything is done to ensure the highest quality and to approach the silhouette of Saint Aubin Chardonnays (Valentina’s true passion) – wines of complex and unique elegance with a fresh bouquet reminiscent of wet stone, lemon oil, honey with a saline and savory taste at the end.
From the 2021 vintage, the label of Valentìne changes its graphics and conforms to a painting to which Valentina feels very attached: “The Dreams” created by the Chinese artist and painter Gao Xiang in 2014.
The sense of the painting and the dream of creating a wine with precise characteristics reveal a common and kindred inspiration. From here, like a sort of “serendipity” and thus discovery, the new face of Valentìne is born.
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