Novello is an Italian term meaning ‘new’ used for still or sparkling red IGT, DOC or DOCG wines made from 30-100% carbonic maceration, a method developed in France in the 1930s (Novello is the equivalent of France’s Nouveau term). The wines can be sold from November 6th and can be IGT, DOC or DOCG. They can be released for consumption from 00.01AM of the sixth day of November in the year the grapes were grown. The minimum alcohol content is 11% and the wine must bear its vintage year. Italy’s best Novello wines are said to come from the Trentino and Alto Adige-Süd-Tirol regions. An alternative view is that these wines are ‘deeply forgettable,’ (Oxford Companion: 2015, p.512).
Bibliography
See Ian D’Agata, Native Wine Grapes of Italy (University of California Press, 2014).
Dr Ian d’Agata, Italy’s Native Wine Grape Terroirs (University of California Press, 2019).
Oxford Companion to Wine 4th edition ed. Jancis Robinson MW and Julia Harding MW (Oxford University Press, 2015), p.512.