Why it matters
The producer
Cuvage makes sparkling wine and nothing else. Founded in 2011 in Acqui Terme, a town in the province of Alessandria in southeast Piedmont, the house works two production routes with deliberate separation: traditional method wines from Nebbiolo, Pinot Nero, and Chardonnay, and Charmat method wines from Moscato Bianco, Cortese, and Brachetto. Owned by Riboli Family Wines and operating within the Argea corporate group, Cuvage is not a small family cellar. It is a purposefully built modern sparkling house on historically charged ground.
The choice to include Nebbiolo in traditional method sparkling is what makes Cuvage editorially interesting. Nebbiolo is one of Italy's most demanding red grapes, the variety behind Barolo and Barbaresco, and using it as a base for secondary bottle fermentation is a local Piedmontese decision rather than a regional convention. Alta Langa, the recognised appellation for Piedmontese traditional method sparkling, builds its wines primarily on Pinot Nero and Chardonnay. Cuvage takes a different position.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Acqui Terme sits at the southeastern edge of Piedmont, where the Apennines begin to rise and the province of Alessandria gives way to Liguria. The town is also where Italian sparkling wine production is recorded to have begun, in 1895. That date does not belong to Cuvage, which was founded more than a century later, but the address carries weight: the sparkling wine tradition in this corner of Piedmont runs through Brachetto d'Acqui, a lightly sparkling, lightly sweet red with strawberry and rose character, and through Moscato and Cortese, both of which have long histories in the surrounding hills.
Acqui Terme gives Cuvage a specific regional argument. The house is not in Asti, home of Moscato d'Asti, nor in the Langhe, where Alta Langa has its established profile. It is in Acqui, a town whose sparkling wine associations predate any of those appellations. For a house founded in 2011, that is a concrete form of rootedness.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
In the Metodo Classico route, grapes undergo primary fermentation, then a second fermentation in the bottle initiated by added sugar and yeast. The wine ages on its lees, the spent yeast cells, inside the sealed bottle before disgorgement. This extended lees contact builds brioche, toasted almond, and dough character alongside the fruit of the base grape. Nebbiolo in this format contributes tannin and a distinctive backbone, giving the sparkling wine grip alongside freshness. Pinot Nero and Chardonnay bring the lighter-bodied fruit and acidity that traditional-method sparkling relies on for its mousse and length.
In the Metodo Martinotti route, secondary fermentation takes place in a sealed pressurised tank rather than in individual bottles. The process is faster, and the wine retains more primary fruit aromatics. For Moscato Bianco, secondary fermentation takes place in a sealed pressurised tank. For Brachetto, secondary fermentation takes place in a sealed pressurised tank. Cortese, the grape behind Gavi, contributes a saline mineral freshness that works against sweetness in Charmat sparkling.
Wines to know
The range in view
Cuvage's range divides cleanly by method. The Metodo Classico wines are built around Nebbiolo, Pinot Nero, and Chardonnay in traditional bottle fermentation. These wines will show the textural weight, fine persistent mousse, and lees-derived complexity that extended bottle ageing produces. Nebbiolo's tannin gives the red-based cuvees a tannic signature that Champagne-method Pinot Nero alone does not. The Metodo Martinotti wines from Moscato Bianco, Brachetto, and Cortese are fresher, more aromatic, and typically lighter in body, designed for early drinking rather than development.
Asiotus Vino Bianco Biologico Frizzante, attributed to Cuvage Srl, sits outside the main two-method framework. It is made from Glera, the grape behind Prosecco, using the tank method, and is lightly sparkling rather than fully effervescent. The wine opens with green apple, pear, almond blossom, and citrus aromas, with a lightly sweet, clean palate and a refreshing, thirst-quenching finish. It is an organic product and frizzante in style, meaning the carbonation is gentler than in spumante.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with the Asiotus Vino Bianco Biologico Frizzante. It is made from Glera by Cuvage Srl, fermented in tank, lightly sparkling, and organic. The aromas are immediate and easy to read: green apple, ripe pear, almond blossom, and citrus. The palate is lightly sweet with soft effervescence, and the finish is clean and thirst-quenching without being sharp. At this weight and sweetness level, it works as an aperitif or alongside light starters. It is not the most technically demanding thing in the Cuvage range, but it is the most clearly documented bottle with confirmed producer attribution, confirmed method, and sourced sensory description.