Angioletti Secco cider review. (8.25/10)- Strong performer in refreshing nature.Could have used some dryness and uniqueness though.
The Good
“Subtle natural sweetness”.
“Light carbonation as promised”.
“Naturally tangy body”.
“Lasting tangy aftertaste”.
“Pleasant natural smell”.
“Nicely balanced”.
“Smooth taste”.
“Full flavoured”.
“Classy bottle colour scheme”.
“Branding nicely consistent with taste”.
The Bad
“Only medium mouthfeel”.
“Nothing particularly unique”.
“No dryness – promised though”.
“Expensive”.
“Impractical”.
“Too rich for a session”.
“No backstory”.
“Unpleasant sourness taking over, into the bottle”.
Packaging
My first ever Italian cider review. Getting cultured in my old age …
whilst I have ventured into northern France and the striking greenery of northern Spain, I am yet to venture east to the cobbled streets of Italy. In the work of cider this is. It needs to capture the essence of Italy, to transport my taste buds there.
I’ll take you on the journey with me …
There is a law demanding all French ciders to contain 100% fruit juice. Unravelling the fusilli further, the website of the Italian cider, asserts that Angioletti also contains 100% juice, putting many English ciders to shame with just 30%.
The site goes on to entice you into the Italian dolomites, where all Angioletti cider apples are grown. This mountain range used to be part of Austria, and is now the cornerstone of the North east Italian corner.
It’s great how their range contains no artificial flavouring or colourings.
Angioletti, whilst produced in Italy, is sold from the UK (The world’s largest cider market). With a 2015 copyright, this is fairly new, but sometimes change is good. We shall see.
With stunning valley orchards lining the Italian rugged landscape, this product is made without artificial ingredients and from pure juice, so my hopes are high.
Today’s drink is part of the 6-product Angioletti range. Ranging from 4-6.8% ABV, the entire range looks eye-catching; With bottle designs of ornate fonts, and a portly bottle shape, although the Mela Rossa has a more standard beer bottle shape. This is far less appealing.
Starting with today’s:
Secco, Rose, Riserva, Mela Rossa, Secco ( Sparkling), and Rosé with Blueberry sparkling, complete the range.
Today, Angioletti Secco has been selected for £2 from Tesco. With Matteo Corazzolla named at the helm, I feel assured of a passionate Italian cider maker. The name adds that quality touch in my opinion.
At 2.6 units for 500ml, at 5% ABV, you’d realistically need 2 for a good evening. This would prop you over safe limits unfortunately though.
Whilst not totally practical, perhaps it’s biggest issue is cost at £4 for the 2. Just 1 would leave you wanting more…
For expectations, I’ll rely on the website. It suggests the smell will be of fresh apple, with some floral component. Flavour will adopt light carbonation. The main taste will be of fresh apples. The aftertaste should have a considerable level of tang too. As for dryness, this should be medium.
Without the website …
Acidity level wasn’t specified, so it will be hoped for, instead of expected.
When taken with the high juice percentage, I’d also hope for full mouthfeel and flavour. Finally, I’d anticipate natural sweetness without anything sickly.
Judging by my favourite “foreign” cider so far, namely Galipette brut from France, high expectations are apparent here, since that scored a cloud-scraping (8.75/10). Perhaps not so cloudy in Italy though, let’s see …
Smell
The smell was a yellow mist of smooth apple. Slightly acidic, yet dying fairly quickly. It suggested a non overpowering and natural flavour. This scent persisted for some time, allowing multiple inhalation’s of nature’s perfume.
Taste
The taste exploded from first sip, with a delightfully fresh burst of apple. It was such a light taste, it resembled a white wine constructed of pure apple. The aftertaste was silky smooth. So much so, you couldn’t notice a defined point of disappearance.
The light carbonation could be seen on pouring, but was light as promised.
The acidity was hardly present early on, yet built throughout the main body of the flavour, displaying it’s complexion with slight apple tartness.
The apples could have been picked yesterday…
The mouthfeel wasn’t watery, and was a pleasant medium. The aftertaste continued the acidity well, and carried through that silky smoothness.
In many ways, the drink felt like a snapshot of the great orchard, but lacked any real dryness which was promised moderately.
Sweetness was present as natural fruit, which was delightfully and effortlessly balanced in harmony. It was only at the end of the taste, when a subtle tang challenged my tongue.
Further into the bottle, a rather unpleasant “lemony sourness”, joined the fray. This was quite potent, and left me preferring the earlier bottle sips. It was a shame, since except for dryness, this was difficult to fault up to that point.
No unique element was present though, such as woodiness or anything especially unusual. Also, it would be difficult to finish more than one, due to it’s richness, making the low ABV a little impractical. It could have had more character, although it performed well in the typical accolades of most ciders.
Summary
Strong performer in refreshing nature. Could have used some dryness and uniqueness though.
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More on cider:
French cider: https://reasea.org/2019/02/25/galipette-biologique-cidre-review-8-5-10-weak-and-pricey-but-naturally-tangy/
Spanish cider: https://reasea.org/2017/08/31/maeloc-sidra-seca-dry-costly-fruity-non-dry-with-tang-but-no-balance-810/
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Sources
#109 Breton Cidre, Loic Raison Doux luxury cider review (8.5/10) – “Incredibly fresh and fruity balance, dulled by high costs and low practicality”.
http://www.cider.org.uk/juicecontent.htm
https://www.angioletticider.com/portfolio_page/angioletti-secco-craft-italian-cider-500ml-5-abv/
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