Saturday was the 2nd edition of Sabato del Vignaiolo (Saturday of the Vine Growers), held in 22 sites from the Alps to Sicily. My husband, Claudio, and I went to the one closest to our house in Arquata Scrivia, which took place at the Frecciarossa winery in Casteggio in the province of Pavia. The 1500-member Federation of Italian Independent Vine Growers (FIVI) held the event.

We went by motor scooter (whose odometer always says 0, but that’s another story). We arrived at 2 p.m. to find it already crowded. It was gratifying to see so many Millennials and Gen Xers, who have largely fallen off the band wagon for wine, abandoning it for cocktails and craft beer.

This wine region is called Oltrepò Pavese. It’s a largely an area of sparkling wine, mostly made with pinot noir and chardonnay. Sparklers represented at least 75 percent of the 80 wines at this tasting. Tables were lined up outside of Frecciarossa’s beautiful 19th century mansion.

So we dove in. The first sparkling wine that I loved was Podere Pavolini’s Becedasco Alto. It was atypical of the region, being refermented in bottle, akin to the col fondo style of traditional Prosecco, which is cloudy with unfiltered yeast. Most Oltrepò Pavese sparklers use metodo classico, the same process as in Champagne. Metodo classico wines are always clear as a bell.

The lady pouring Podere Pavolini’s wines also had an excellent malvasia, called Aquapazza (crazy water). It was a still wine, very floral with enticing notes of tropical fruit.

There were many other sparklers that were quite good. Among my favorites was Bosco Longhino’s Casto Brut, a metodo classico wine made with 100 percent pinot noir (or pinot nero, as it is called in Italy). It had citric freshness and seductive toast. The winery was founded in 1895, so they’ve had well over a hundred years to get it right.

Another favorite was Montelio’s 17 Fiorile 1803, rosé sparkler made from pinot noir grapes. This uses the Charmat Method, so the bubbles are done in tank, rather than in individual bottles. The result is bubbles that have the texture of sea foam, rather than organized like strings of pearls on a necklace, like in Champagne and metodo classico wines.

Last but least among the sparklers was Calatroni’s Riva Rinetti Pas Dosé. This wine comes from a single vineyard called Rinetti. Pas Dosé means no added sugar in the dosage. It’s another 100 percent pinot noir done with the metodo classico technique, as all Oltrepò Pavese Metodo Classico DOCG wines are. The wine ages on lees for 48 months, giving it nice biscuity notes.

We tried several Rieslings, but they were just meh. The same goes for the pinot noir vinified as a still red wine. Claudio like some of them, but to me they lacked varietal character.

But the sparklers made up for it. They were good as any Franciacorta – which, by the way, uses the same grapes. All in all, it was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.