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Natale Verga, Moscato d'Asti (NV)

White (semi-sparkling)ItalyNV

By Daniel Min · Tasted 2019-12-29 · Published 2026-09-16 · Updated 2026-09-16

In one paragraphNatale Verga Moscato d'Asti is a non-vintage, semi-sparkling white made from 100% Moscato Bianco in Italy's Asti DOCG zone, Piedmont, with alcohol as low as 5% per Vivino's listing. Moscato Bianco is believed to have arrived in Piedmont with Greek traders around the 5th century BCE, and the low-temperature tank fermentation method (autoclave) developed by Asti native Federico Martinotti in 1898 — later rediscovered in France as the Charmat method — made this low-alcohol, gently sparkling style viable at scale. The producer, Casa Vinicola Natale Verga, is a bottling house based in Cermenate, Lombardy. Vivino lists 643 ratings averaging 4.0, with no critic scores on file. The nose leads with tree fruit — pear, peach (33 mentions) — followed by an earth-and-honey group (22) and tropical fruit, mainly lychee (13). Structure data is thin (only 4 user responses) but reads acidity 2.6, fizziness 1.1, intensity 2.5. I drank it twice — 29 December 2019 and 4 January 2020 — rating it 4.5 both times. The world average price is US$12 per 750ml ex-tax (Wine-Searcher, Sept 2026).

At a glance

No Vivino or professional critic reviews on file.

Market note: A steady-selling casual Moscato d'Asti carried by US retailers (Martin's Wine, Haskell's, etc.) at everyday prices. Exact overseas retail price still being confirmed.

What this wine is

Moscato Bianco is believed to have reached Piedmont around the 5th century BCE, carried by Greek traders along the Ligurian coast. After founding the colony of Hasta — today's Asti — the Romans cultivated it as "Apiane" (the bee-attracting grape), and classical writers like Pliny the Elder recorded its aromatic prestige. In other words, the grape behind this wine has grown on these same hills for over two thousand years.

The light, low-alcohol Moscato d'Asti style we drink today, though, is a much more recent invention. In 1865, Carlo Gancia — trained in Champagne — applied the traditional Champagne method to Moscato Bianco, producing Italy's first sparkling wine and laying the groundwork for Asti Spumante. The real turning point came in 1898, when Asti native Federico Martinotti patented a sealed, low-temperature tank fermentation method (the autoclave) — later rediscovered in France as the Charmat method — which made today's light, gently frizzante, roughly 5%-ABV Moscato d'Asti possible to produce cheaply at scale. A consorzio fixed the production zone's boundaries in 1932, and Asti was elevated to DOCG status in 1993.

The house behind this particular bottle, Casa Vinicola Natale Verga, is not based in Asti at all but in Cermenate, Lombardy — a bottling house whose exact founding date isn't officially confirmed, but which today still wins gold medals (Berliner Wein Trophy, among others) as a mid-size négociant that buys Moscato from the Asti hills and bottles it under its own name.

What the world says

Vivino lists 643 ratings averaging 4.0 — a casual, everyday-wine category with no professional critic scores on file.

The flavor keywords lead with tree fruit — pear, peach, apple (33 mentions) — followed mostly by honey (part of a 22-mention earth group). Tropical fruit, mainly lychee and pineapple (13), also comes up often. Structure data is thin, based on just 4 user responses, but reads acidity 2.6/5, fizziness 1.1/5, intensity 2.5/5 — the low fizziness figure tracks with the semi-sparkling ("frizzante") category itself.

"If you like a light sparkling white wine, look no further. Very fresh, only 5% alcohol and flavours of peach, lychee." — Vivino review, Nov 2016, 4.0 stars

"Personally not a fan of 'moscato', but this one I would definitely do again… Great to finish the dinner." — Vivino review, Jul 2024, 4.0 stars

The low alcohol and pronounced sweetness push most community reviews toward a "nice light sipper" tone — nearly half a point below the 4.5 I gave it both times I drank it.

How I drank it

29 December 2019, 4.5 stars. "Bright pale gold. Lychee, apple, honey, stone, peach, asian pear. Balanced Moscato. Value for money. A moscato that's really good for light drinking. A taste anyone would casually enjoy. Unlike other moscatos, there's a distinctive finish that lingers and wraps around — that's what makes it special. It has an unusual Korean-pear-like note that I think Koreans would love~~^^" I picked the bottle up next to the strawberries at a supermarket while shopping for fruit.

I opened the same wine again on 4 January 2020. That night it shared the table with a Delamotte Brut Champagne Grand Cru, a Tommasi Amarone della Valpolicella 2015, and a Tenuta Regaleali Bianco 2016 — a dinner that opened with sparkling, peaked with Amarone, and closed with a Sicilian white, and this Moscato slotted in somewhere along that arc. The note was short: "Again pear and honey." Same score: 4.5.

Getting the identical score (4.5) both times wasn't a coincidence — it points to a wine that's simply consistent, satisfying in the same way every time. The "Korean pear" note from the first tasting and "pear and honey" from the second are the same impression, repeated. My score sitting half a point above the community average of 4.0 probably comes down to exactly that: most Vivino reviewers treat it as a light, casual wine, but for me that Korean-pear-like nuance landed as something more distinctive.

Vivino community data

NV vintage rating distribution (643 ratings, average 4.0)

Most-mentioned aromas

Structure: Acidity 2.6/5 · Fizziness 1.1/5 · Intensity 2.5/5

Average by vintage (all vintages: 643 ratings, average 4.0)

My original note (Vivino, 2019-12-29)

Frequently asked questions

Links & sources

View on Vivino · Prices on Wine-Searcher

• Vivino — wine page and community data
• Wine Folly (Asti Guides) — History of Moscato d'Asti and Asti DOCG
• wein.plus — Casa Vinicola Natale Verga s.p.a. Producer Description
• Wikipedia — Moscato d'Asti