_____________________________________________

Tiny family-owned estate
Vineyards are terraced and very steep, truly ‘heroic viticulture’
Farmed at extremely low yields

_____________________________________________

about ka’ manciné:

Ka' Manciné is a tiny estate in western Liguria, almost to the border with France, in the equally tiny Rossese di Dolceacqua DOC. Maurizio Anfosso and Roberta Repaci own about 3 hectares of very old vineyards in two parcels, Beragna and Galeae. Maurizio and Roberta's wines are pale in color, medium bodied, fresh and spicy, with lovely silky texture and refreshing juiciness. Lighter red wines are some of the best food wines, and these are some of Italy's most attractive examples.

Rossese di Dolceacqua is rare. Rossese is an indigenous grape variety* grown in a very small appellation around the little town of Dolceaqua, about 200 acres in all, (80 hectares) for a total production of about twenty thousand bottles; in other words the whole appellation produces as much wine as one medium-sized winery. These low-yielding, bush-trained vines are planted at high density (up to 8000 vines per hectare) in the classic Greek bush system. 

Maurizio and Roberta work the extremely steep Beragna and Galeae vineyards manually. Beragna was planted on its own roots in 1872 on very steep south-east facing terraces, on schists and marls, at an altitude of about 400 meters. Galeae was replanted in 1998 by means of a massal selection on very similar soils, slightly richer in organic substances, which give slightly fleshier and fruitier wines. The Italian wine authority Ian d’Agata mentions just a handful of special sites, ‘For Rossese di Dolceaqua, the ‘grand cru’ areas are Galeae, Beragna…’ Outside of the volcanic soils in the south of Italy, own-rooted vineyards are extremely rare now, which makes Beragna particularly unusual, not to mention that the vines are now over 150 years old.

Ka Manciné’s two Rosseses are some of my favorite food wines in our entire selection. In texture it resembles lighter Pinot Noir or perhaps village Beaujolais, which is to say that it is very versatile; it would be perfect with cioppino, the Ligurian/San Francisco fish stew, or all kinds of other dishes. Roast chicken, seared tuna, ratatouille…

*Jancis Robinson says that Rossese is identical to a grape found in southern France called Tibouren, which she describes as 'lively, aromatic and relatively light with a distinctive and refreshing sour-cherry flavour.' Tibouren is the distinguishing variety in one of France’s finest and most sought-after rosés, Clos Cibonne, which is grown a few hours west of Ka Manciné, near Toulon. 

_____________________________________________

the wines:

‘galeae’ vineyard Rossesse di dolceacqua

‘beragna’ vineyard Rossesse di dolceacqua

‘agne’ vineyard Rossesse di dolceacqua

_____________________________________________

helpful links:

Visit the Ka Mancinè Website