Carpenè Malvolti: A New Wine and More

Carpenè Malvolti is one of the largest producers of Prosecco, and when I stop in a supermarket to pick up a bottle of light, young, zesty bubbly I often emerge with their basic Prosecco di Conegliano Extra Dry, which goes down nicely and is nicely priced. But they make many other wines as well, and have been introducing impressive new wines at the rate of one per year for a while now. Last year it was Viognier, and this year it's something called Cserszegi, which we'll get to presently. To begin, however:

Carpenè Malvolti Prosecco Brut 2008
Pale brassy yellow with hints of pink, and fine perlage. The bouquet us fresh, with tart apples and clean spice; the impression is direct and quite welcoming. On the palate it's fresh and full, with pleasant apple fruit supported by golden delicious acidity and sparkle that flows into a clean fresh finish. Good, in a simple key, and will drink nicely as an aperitif or with foods, especially cold cuts and other picnic fare.
2 stars

Carpenè Malvolti Extra Dry 2008
Pale brassy white with fine perlage. The bouquet is fairly rich, with apple fruit supported by some greenish accents and deft, sweetness. Appealing. On the palate it's ample, and rich, with fairly sweet apple fruit supported by peppery notes from acidity and sparkle, and clean slightly bitter apple accents that flow into a fairly tart finish. Pleasant in a quite approachable key, and will work well as an aperitif or at poolside. Expect it to go quickly.
2 stars

Carpenè Malvolti Prosecco Cuvée Oro Dry 2008
Pale brassy white with fine intense perlage. The bouquet is fairly rich, with delicious and Granny Smith apples mingled with tart crisp apple acidity and pleasing airy hints of sweetness. On the palate it's full, with failry rich delicious apple fruit supported by apple acidity and slight savory accents, while the finish gains depth from hints of apple bitterness. Quite nice, and will work well as an aperitif or far from the meal. Expect it to go quickly.
2 stars

Carpenè Malvolti Cserszegi 2008
This is a new wine: it's produced from Cserszegi, a Hungarian varietal developed in the late 1940s by Karoly Bakonyi , who crossbred Israi Oliver and Traminer Rosso with the goal of obtaining grapes well suited to the climate, that would ripen early, and have good sugar levels and aromatic potentials. The vineyards are on the banks of the Danube, and Carpenè is the first to produce a sparkling version, through the Charmat method. The wine is pale brassy yellow with fine persistent perlage, and has a fairly rich greenish nose mingled with some bitterness, cut flowers, and some savory spice. On the palate it's full and rich, with clean bright slightly sour minerality supported by sparkle and smooth warm citric acidity that flows into a clean apple laced finish with savory accents. Pleasant, and quite welcoming, with greater depth than the Prosecco. It will work quite well as an aperitif, and also be nice to drink at table, with fish or meat-based dishes.
2 stars

Carpenè Malvolti Kerner 2008
Pale brassy white with fine intense perlage. The bouquet is rich, and elegant, with floral accents and spice mingled with some vegetal notes and minerality. Considerable depth and very pleasant to sniff. On the palate it's it's full, with rich slightly bitter minerality supported by clean bright sparkle that confers creaminess, and by deft acidity that flows into a clean fairly rich slightly bitter finish. Very pleasant, and will drink beautifully as an aperitif.
90-91

Carpenè Malvolti Viognier 2008
Pale brassy yellow with intense perlage. Bright bouquet, with rich citric accents mingled with greenish notes and hints of savory heather. A lot going on in a slightly more muscular key than some of the others. On the palate it's bright, with deft minerality supported by clean fresh creaminess from sparkle, and by fairly deft acidity that flows into a clean bright finish. Quite pleasant, and will drink very well with foods or as an aperitif.
88-90

Carpenè Malvolti Rosè Brut
Pale salmon with lively pinkish perlage. The bouquet is fresh, with some berry fruit supported by acidity and savory accents. Delicate. On the palate it's full, with fairly rich mineral laced berry fruit supported by acidity and clean greenish bitterness that flows into the finish. Pleasant, and will work well as an aperitif though it has quite enough body to work well at the table too, with richer grilled fish, white meats, and also with flavorful cheeses. In short, versatile.
2 stars

Carpenè Malvolti Metodo Classico 2005
Lively brassy gold with brassy reflections and fine intense perlage. The bouquet is fairly intense, with deft acidity and bread crumbs mingled with some greenish vegetal accents and slight butterscotch. Nice balance. On the palate it's full, with fairly rich savory minerality supported by sparkle and slight greenish bitterness that flows into a clean peppery finish. Deft, and though I would have liked a little more acidity, it is pleasant, and will work well as an aperitif, or with fish, including crustaceans.
2 stars

A Quick Look at Carpenè Malvolti

Carpenè Malvolti is one of the largest producers of Prosecco, and when I stop in a supermarket to pick up a sparkling bottle I often emerge with their basic Prosecco di Conegliano Extra Dry, which goes down nicely and is nicely priced. But they make many other wines as well, and have been introducing impressive new wines at the rate of one per year for a while now. Last year it was Kerner, and this year it's Viognier, but we'll get to them presently. First, the Prosecco:

Carpenè Malvolti Cuvée Brut Prosecco di Conegliano DOC 2007
Pale brassy white with fine perlage that's quite intense. The bouquet is clean and bright, with lively green apple and pleasant savory accents. On the palate it's full and bright, with lively crisp apple fruit that flows into a tart green apple finish. Quite approachable, and will drink well as an aperitif or with foods -- Indeed, an Italian might say it's a tutto pasto, suited for the entire meal.
2 stars

Carpenè Malvolti Prosecco di Conegliano DOC Extra Dry 2007
Pale brassy white with fine perlage. This is a bit sweeter than the brut, and is their most common Prosecco. Its bouquet is fairly rich, with green apple mingled with some delicious apple, and some sugars, with hints of minerality. On the palate it's full, relatively sweet, ample, and quite soft, flowing into a tart apple finish. It's more direct and more approachable at a general level than the Prosecco Brut, though wine lovers will likely prefer the Brut. I did, at least. It's a question of stylistic preference.
1 star

Carpenè Malvolti Cuvée Oro Prosecco di Conegliano Dry 2007
Pale brassy white with fine perlage. The bouquet is deft, with green apples mingled with delicious apples, some minerality, and apple skin sweetness. On the palate it's full and rich, with clean fairly sweet green apple fruit supported by sparkle and moderate acidity that that works with the sweetness. The overall impression it gives is quite welcoming, and it will work very well as an aperitif, especially for those who are unused to brut wines. In short, a nice, approachable and versatile wine that will appeal to a wide variety of drinkers, though not, perhaps, to the strictly Champagne/Franciacorta set.
2 stars

Carpenè Malvolti Promotico Brut 2007
This is from the Abruzzo, and is made from an autochthonous varietal known as pecorino because sheep like it. It's pale brassy gold with intense fine perlage, and has a fresh mineral bouquet with some gunflint that gains in intensity with swishing. On the palate it's fairly full, with bright mineral-laced tart fruit supported by dry minerality and sparkle, while there is also an undercurrent of sweetness -- it's not bone-dry -- and flows into a clean bitter finish. Pleasant, and will work nicely as an aperitif or with foods; more of the cheese and egg sort than fish, I'd say, because though there is quite enough acidity to stand up to fattier foods there's an undercurrent of softness as well.
2 stars

Carpenè Malvolti Kerner 2007
Pale brassy yellow with fine intense perlage. Elegant bouquet with pleasing floral accents mingled with citrus and honeysuckle with underlying minerality. Elegant, and quite inviting. On the palate full and rich with clean honeydew melon fruit that gains direction from deft citric acidity and slight bitterness that flows into a fairly long savory finish. Quite nice, with excellent depth and richness, an wine that will work very well as an aperitif or with foods. Drawbacks? The bottle will likely go too fast.
90-91

Carpenè Malvolti Voignier 2007
Pale brassy white with fine perlage. The bouquet is fairly rich, with gunflint minerality laced with some citric notes and savory accents On the palate it's rich and bracing, with lively citric fruit supported by clean citric acidity and nice sparkle that flow into a clean tart finish with peppery accents from sparkle. It's quick to write, but quite harmonious, in a sassier key than the Kerner: If the former is a beautiful woman in an evening gown, here she's dressed to go hiking eager to set out.
88-90

Carpenè Malvolti Rosé 2007
This is a blend of 85% Pinot Noir and 15% Raboso. It's pale pink with fine intense perlage, and has a clean bouquet with fairly bright acidity supported by red berry fruit and spice, with underlying bitterness. On the palate it's bright, with clean minerality and some cherry and forest berry fruit that is more hint than fact, with pleasing fullness from sparkle and minerality that flows into a clean mineral finish. Very much a Rosé brut, and will drink nicely as an aperitif or with delicate meat dishes. Fish, too. In short, versatile.
2 stars.

Bottom Line: Carpenè Malvolti is doing some very interesting things. Want to know more? Their Site.