For me, I’m happy to drink it as an aperitif. It’s light, very refreshing, and perfect for warm spring & summer evenings with friends. Forget about those watery or vinegary American hard ciders made from lunchbox apples. This is a cider for wine lovers. So, to help the Italian wine industry flourish (and eliminate competition), Mussolini decreed a new law that banned the manufacture of any fruit-based alcoholic beverage with less than 7% alcohol. Hard apple cider tends to come in around 5-6% by volume, and so literally overnight the Italian hard apple cider industry was crushed.

Fast forward 75 years to a newfound respect for Cidre traditions, and you’ll find a sudden resurgence in Cidre making among the farmers and families living in the Valle d’Aosta. Gianluca is leading the charge to bring beautiful, elegant Cidres from this remote corner of Italy to wine & cider lovers everywhere.But there was a method to Gianluca’s madness, and today we can taste an apple cider unlike anything else on the planet. Angioletti Riserva 500ml (6.8% ABV) is available in selected Morrisons and Sainsbury’s supermarkets in UK. Angioletti Mela Rossa 330ml (5% ABV) is only sold in restaurant / bar sector in the UK but if you’ve tried this and are looking for something similar – try Angioletti Secco! If you like the taste of apples and you love wines, you owe it to yourself to try Gianluca’s wonderful creation. Prosecco fans adore this wine for the taste, the bubbles and the price. Maley Mont Blanc Cidre has an elegance that can only come from antique apple varieties with a gentle cider maker’s hand.

Inspired by the ancient and magnificent apple trees and local cider making methods from the early 1900’s, Gianluca put his wine making job on hold to rediscover the ancestral art of making “sidro” (also called cidre in the local dialect & pronounced “SEE-dray”). Once the fermented juice reaches a level of 4% alcohol, Gianluca bottles it. At this point the yeast aren’t quite done partying yet, so this early bottling enables a secondary fermentation to create a silky effervescence in the bottle, without disgorgement – the so-called metodo ancestrale of creating a sparkling fermented beverage. The alcohol level in the finished cider is 5%. “Wow. It tastes like…apples!” There was a time some 75+ years ago when villagers in the Aosta Valley would make a simple hard apple cider each Autumn to share with family & friends. It went well with the local food and was a great source of calories & nutrients to help one get through the long, cold winters – and the source of a few extra Lire when sold to other villagers not blessed with apple orchards.Respecting tradition and the elders, the local farmers of the Saint Marcel community have kept their cider making elegantly simple. Gianluca knew better than to tinker with these ancestral methods. Like any good Fascist leader of the time, Mussolini was a fan of supporting anything purely Italian and stamping out anything even remotely foreign. Italians make wine, they don’t make cider. Only the French make cider. Or so went Benito’s thinking. On the nose it’s all applesauce with a hint of cinnamon and honey and a freshness that reminds you of a basket full of fresh autumn apples. The bubbles are microscopic and caress the tongue, resulting in a silky, off-dry finish. And at only 5% alcohol, it’s a cider you can enjoy anytime of year and without worry of imbibing too much.

Maley Mont Blanc Cidre pairs wonderfully with a creamy brie, Fontina, or a Pont L’Eveque. Like many sparkling dry wines, this Cidre is divine with tiny Kumamoto and Olympia oysters; the very light sweetness of the Cidre compliments the briny sweetness of the oysters.

New customer?