Piero Gatti Moscato d'Asti 2024

A low-alcohol sweet white from Piero Gatti, a family producer in Santo Stefano Belbo in the Langhe hills of Piedmont that has focused on this style of moscato for three generations. At 5.5% ABV it is fresh and fragrant, with sweet peach, ripe apricot and floral aromas over a creamy, lightly effervescent sip where the sweetness is balanced rather than cloying.

The vines stand on the Moncucco hill above Santo Stefano Belbo, facing south on calcareous soil. Some were planted as far back as 1955, the youngest in 1995. The family farms about seven hectares without herbicides and picks by hand.

Piero's grandparents planted the first rows early last century. Piero and his wife Rita set up the winery in 1988, and their daughter Barbara has run it since 2000. In the late 1990s Piero walked away from the Moscato d'Asti DOCG label. Its rules stopped him picking his south-facing fruit when he wanted, so he bottles under Piemonte Moscato DOC instead.

The must is chilled to minus two degrees and held there, then fermented for about five days at 16 degrees. It stops at 138 grams of sugar a litre. Serve it at 10 degrees with hazelnut biscuits, pastries or ice cream. Cold cuts work too.