Ka Mancine

Liguria / Italy

Their Story

Ka’ Manciné is a tiny estate in western Liguria, almost on the border with France, in the Rossese di Dolceacqua DOC. Maurizio Anfosso and Roberta Repaci own about 3 hectares of the Rossese variety, in the Beragna and Galeae crus. Maurizio and Roberta’s wines are pale in color, medium bodied, extremely 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 del Dolceacqua is a local grape* grown in a very limited area (about 200 acres, for a total production of 200,000 liters) on steep terraces made of schists and marls facing mostly East and South-East at altitudes between 300 and 450 meters above sea level. The very old and low yielding vines are planted at high density (up to 8000 vines per hectare) in the classic greek bush system. Maurizio Anfosso and Roberta Repaci, owners of Ka Mancinè, work the beautiful vineyards of Beragna and Galeae manually, with sheer respect for the environment and in harmony with the land. The Beragna vineyard was planted on its own roots in 1872 on very steep terraces facing south east 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, just a bit more rich in organic substances, which usually lead to more fleshy and fruity wines.

*Jancis Robinson says that it’s 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.’

Highlights:

Bright, sour-cherryish red wine from Liguria
Tiny family-owned estate
Vineyards are terraced and very steep, truly ‘heroic viticulture’

Above are words from Oliver McCrum – www.omwines.com