During the autumn season, it particularly pleasant to drink sweet and slightly fizzy red wine on those typically grey fall days: Brachetto d’Acqui DOCG.
Brachetto d’Acqui has a deep-rooted tradition, and it is thought that the ancient Romans believed this wine to have aphrodisiac powers.  Legend has it that a wine known as “vinum acquense”, linked to today’s Brachetto, was presented generously by Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony as gifts to Cleopatra before their arrival, because of these astonishing powers.
Brachetto was first classified as DOC in 1969, and in 1996 it was promoted to DOCG status. According to the disciplinary, its production is limited to 26 municipalities in the provinces of Asti and Alessandria, in vineyards grown in the foothills of the mountains.  Under DOCG regulations Brachetto d’Acqui must be produced from 97% Brachetto grapes and must have a minimum alcohol content of 5%.  il Botolo uses 100% Brachetto grapes to make this lively, fresh, fizzy, and sweet wine, with its characteristic ruby red color and aromas of musk, rose and strawberry.
It should be consumed young and is meant for the table, and not the cellar. Like Moscato, it is the first wine to be bottled of each new vintage, and il Botolo is now busy bottling the 2018 vintage, which promises to be a good year.
Strict disciplinary regulations stipulate that DOCG grapes must be harvested to no more than 5.600 litres per hectare, making this wine very expensive but highly appreciated at the same time.  To be served young as an aperitif and paired with sweets and desserts, or as a slightly alcoholic pairing during tea-time.