Novello: the important thing is not to call it New Wine

The word "Novello" leads less experienced eyes to assume it is simply a new wine, just made!

What changes is actually the production method, so we are looking at two substantially different products.

Novello wines are in fact produced using a technique called Carbonic Maceration, developed by a team of French researchers in 1934.

In the common imagination, when talking about wine production one immediately thinks of pressing the grapes, but in reality with this production method this phase is not included.

Essentially the un-destemmed grapes are hermetically sealed in a tank saturated with carbon dioxide for periods ranging from 5 to 20 days at a temperature of around 30°.

The upper layers of grapes, thanks to their weight, crush the grape berries placed in the lower part of the tank and turn them into must.

The latter begins to ferment, due to enzymes present in the grapes, and transforms into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
At this point the still-intact berries are forced to modify themselves to adapt to the environment and begin a sort of "internal fermentation" also called "autofermentation".
During this phase, thanks to malic enzyme, glycerol, methanol, ethyl acetate, acetaldehydes and amino acids, the skins of the berries donate pigments to the pulp which will release aromatic substances.
The product resulting from this process will be soft and fragrant; the grapes will have a lower acidity compared to the initial phase and aromas such as strawberry, blueberry and raspberry will enrich the nectar.
At this stage the compound is gently pressed and placed in fermentation vats where the transformation of sugars into alcohol will be completed in about three days.

Novello wine is pleasant and simple and should be consumed quickly; it is generally advisable to drink it before the spring following the harvest.

In Italy production is regulated by the Ministerial Decree of 6/10/1989 and stipulates that the wine obtained, in order to be defined as "Novello", must contain at least 30% grapes processed with carbonic maceration and must be bottled by December 31st of the harvest year, but cannot be sold commercially before November 6th of the same year.


The Beaujolais Nouveau is a wine produced with the same technique and stricter legislation in France.
In the country of the Eiffel Tower, however, the wine must be produced using exclusively Gamay grapes processed 100% with carbonic maceration.
Retail sale of this wine is possible from midnight on the third Wednesday of November of the same year in which the harvest was carried out.