The world of Italian sparkling wine has been stuck in something of a rough spot in the last several decades: everyone knows and utilizes industrial-scale Prosecco, despite the race to the bottom it represents; many people have an allergic reaction when they hear the word ‘Lambrusco,’ understanding it to be semi-sweet red-sauce plonk; and fluffy Franciacorta hasn’t exactly done much to help the image of metodo classico wines here. So how should we begin to speak about the oldest way of making sparkling – or frizzante – wine in this country, which is neither to make easy-drinking, less complex pét-nats, nor to engage the full Champagne method?

Enter Flavio Restani: a young man working as one of the vanguard of second-generation Emilia-Romagna natural sparkling wine producers, following in the footsteps of older luminaries like Camillo Donati and Luciano Saetti. Restani’s wines, bottled under his label Koi, which he launched in 2016, are made in the traditional rifermentato method. With this technique, must and juice from the harvest are preserved after pressing and kept cold and secure until spring, when primary fermentation is complete in the still wines (usually sometime around Feb-April, depending on the winery/microclimate). Then, the still wines are bottled with this must, prompting something like a secondary ferment or, more accurately, a refermentation to begin—leading to bubbles.

We should clarify as a result: these are not sparkling wines the way that Prosecco made via the Charmat method has clear carbonation added, nor the way metodo classico creates a high level of firm mousse. The Koi wines are frizzante, with varying levels of pressure based on how much must/juice is added; the impact is to accent the already excellent still wines with just a bit of fritz. Flavio also works with no additives, so there’s a slight touch of a leesy character to the wines when they first arrive; this changes in the bottle with time, as a gentle version of bottle conditioning is also happening as the wines evolve over the months.

The key features of Flavio’s winemaking to us, however, are more about the terroir of the Colli Bolognese, where he lives and works; the caliber of and varieties of fruit with which he’s working—almost entirely Bolognese natives, even more particular than wider Emilia-Romagna; and the distinct focus and clarity that this young winemaker has already accomplished in just five vintages at his own winery. The varieties that Restani finds are naturally lower acid and a bit broader get made into ‘frizzante’ rifermentatos—bottled with less must and therefore slightly lower pressure; these grapes are Pignoletto, Montuni, and Lambrusco Grasparossa. The native grapes that strike Restani (and us) as being quite serious, high-acid, and ageworthy are bottled with higher pressure and called ‘spumante;’ these are Trebbiano Modenese and a lights-out rosato made from both that and Lambrusco Sorbara. (Ask us about Lambrusco Sorbara. We think it’s a strong contender for just-as-good-as Pinot Meunier.) There are also two still wines at Koi—a white and a red—where Flavio thinks the varieties don’t have enough cut to hold bubbles, these are also excellent (Moscato, Trebbiano di Spagna, and Barbera, in case you were wondering).

Soil types in the rolling, diverse hills around Bologna aren’t hard to understand—clay with calcaire dotted throughout, with ratios of each varying from slope to slope. What’s really striking is the intense mineral sensation in these wines, a forward, linear quality which you see carried across varieties and styles; Flavio works fully without additives or filtration or temperature control, so the refinement of these wines is particularly impressive. All of the wines are highly stable and physically clear almost immediately after refermentation; they only require around six months or so to feel fully coherent.

There’s a sense of clarity and accomplishment already here, and you feel it when you’re with Flavio: intelligence and serenity, a lot of kindness, and after a few glasses of his friendly, most aperitif-like sparkling, ‘Chi Mera,’ a goofy, playful sense of humor, too. We’re always really happy when someone’s wines reflect their personality directly, and we’re definitely a bit amazed at how quickly Restani’s work at Koi seems to be communicating many things: the profundity of this appellation which few people know; the very high quality attainable from many of Bologna and Modena’s native varieties, and the precision and clarity that a refermented frizzante wine can have. These are unexplored and misunderstood corners of the wine world, and we’re super pleased to have Koi as one of our new producers who are clearly instrumental in writing this new chapter.