# Lu.Lo Calosso Gamba di Pernice (NV)

- **Producer:** Azienda Agricola Adriano Grasso
- **Colour:** red
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Gamba di Pernice
- **Region:** Piemonte, Italy
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 13.5%
- **Average price:** €21
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 16–18 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** raspberry, blueberry, cherry, black pepper, white pepper, rose, geranium, resinous, cloves, vanilla, tobacco

## About this wine

Produced by Azienda Agricola Adriano Grasso in the small municipality of Calosso within Piedmont, Italy, Lu.Lo celebrates one of the region's rarest native grape varieties, Gamba di Pernice. The Grasso family has cultivated land in Calosso since the mid-19th century. After completing enological studies and working in industrial winemaking, Adriano Grasso returned to his family's estate in 2013 to establish low-intervention, certified organic viticulture. The cuvée name 'Lu.Lo' is a personal dedication to Adriano's son, Ludovico Lorenzo, born in 2021—the same year the dedicated Gamba di Pernice parcel was planted. Grown in rich limestone and marl soils at high elevations, this wine represents the renaissance of a historical micro-denomination.

## Interesting facts

- The name Lu.Lo honors winemaker Adriano Grasso's son, born in 2021, the year the vineyard was planted.
- Gamba di Pernice translates to 'partridge leg', referring to the red hue the vine stems take on near harvest.
- This rare native Piedmontese grape was nearly extinct before being granted its dedicated Calosso DOC status.

## Food pairing

The vibrant acidity, moderate silky tannins, and savory spice notes of Gamba di Pernice call for rich, savory dishes. Earthy proteins such as game birds, lamb, and pork ragù match the wine's medium-plus structure and herbal-spicy complexity, while aged cheeses complement its fine-grained tannin profile.

## Wine making process

The grapes are harvested by hand in mid-October from organically farmed vineyards managed according to natural and biodynamic principles. In the winery, fermentation begins spontaneously using native ambient yeasts. Maceration takes place over 15 days on the skins in stainless steel tanks, assisted by traditional manual punch-downs and periodic délestage. The wine is aged for 10 to 12 months in second-passage oak barriques to allow soft textural integration without imposing dominant wood character, followed by gentle bottling with minimal sulfur usage.