The Barale family is rooted in Barolo, just as Conterno is in Monforte d’Alba, Burlotto in Verduno, & Cappellano in Serralunga d’Alba. And since 2012, Diego (nato ’80) e Damiano (’83) – fratelli e enologi – are the latest ramo/branch of this historic Barale family to be making Barolo wine.
The family dates back to the 17th century, & in 1870 Francesco Barale started making wine. The estate passed to Carlo Barale, who in turn founded the ‘Barale-Rinaldi’ cantina. In due course the families split, with Carlo’s sons Giovanni Battista & Giuseppe (father of Carlo & Sergio) establishing Barale Fratelli until the death of Giuseppe in 1984. Diego & Damiano’s father Carlo, himself an enologo, & their uncle Sergio took over Barale Fratelli until the tragic ‘scomparso‘ of Carlo in Sept. 1985; at this point the property passed to his brother Sergio.
In 2012, following the renovation of their fine & historic ‘Aie Sottane‘ property in the heart of the village, the giovani fratelli Diego & Damiano began their own estate with the release of 2010 Langhe Nebbiolo & with 2012 Barolo. Their distinctive ‘falce e coccinella‘ label does not shed light on their political sympathies, but reveals a mantra shared by the fratelli from the outset: ‘Lavoro e Natura, Audace e Fortuna’.
With land inherited from their father Carlo, the fratelli now have 8ha of vineyards in the communes of Barolo (vigne Monrobiolo di Bussia, Castellero, Cannubi) & Monforte d’Alba (vigna San Giovanni); 4ha of which are devoted to growing Nebbiolo da Barolo.
Both brothers tend to their vines, occasionally with the falce (!), following essentially biologico/organic principles but they do not agree with some of the more illogical practices that being ‘bio’ certified would entail; they don’t own a caterpillar tractor, but rely on a traditional tractor; they prefer to wrap over (arrotolare) the tops of the vines rather than to ‘top’ them. The vineyards are harvested & vinified separately. Vinification is classical, with fermentation in static stainless-steel tanks for up to 25/30 days (remontaggio), followed by ageing in 500L french tonneaux for approx. 24mths. For now they feel most comfortable, & in control with this smaller wood format…but that said, a 25HL botte is in the pipeline.
From vintage 2018, their classic Barolo becomes a blend of Monrobiolo di Bussia & San Giovanni, while their inaugural Barolo Cannubi will be released in magnum only. And from vintage 2021, they will assume ownership of their family’s vines in Castellero. They also make a fine old vine Dolcetto d’Alba & younger vine Barbera d’Alba from their San Giovanni vineyard.
From Barbaresco’s comune di Neive comes this exciting 15ha property, owned & run by the Pola family. The name ‘Fontanabianca’ is derived from the pozzo/well that lies below the cantina, on the northern side of the village. It was nonno Franco who first started bottling their Barbarescos in 1970, followed by his son Aldo in 1982. Aldo married Luisella (Chiola) from nearby Serracapelli, & now it’s the turn of their (second) son Matteo (nato ’91), who’s been working alongside his father on an increasing basis since 2013. It was in vintage 2017 that Matteo gave up his post at the ABC Laboratory in Alba & switched full time to the family business. Matteo is largely in the cantina, while papa Aldo prefers the vigneti.
In 2017 the family rebuilt the now spacious cantina, that sits above their old vine Bordini vineyard at 280m asl facing ES on soft sandy calc clay soils, of which 1ha comprises 70+ yo ungrafted Nebbiolo vines that goes into the single vineyard Barbaresco Bordini. Since 2008 they have also rented 0.82ha of 35yo vines from Neive’s prized Serraboella cru at 310m asl, steeply facing SW on white marne & iron, Serravallian soils. They also make a classic Barbaresco blend from younger Bordini vines, below the cantina & from the versante opposite called ‘Montesommo’.
Vinification is classic, fermenting the Nebbiolo da Barbaresco fruit in either stainless-steel or tini di legno for circa 13 – 25 days, with remontaggio & delestaggio, followed by malolactic in cement tanks, & affinamento/elevage mostly botti grandi, but also a small part of used barriques (in the case of the classic Barbaresco).
Vintage 2017 was also the year they also installed three wooden 35HL tini, switched the entire range of Barbarescos to DIAM30 corks, & the rest of the range to DIAM5. The wines are traditionally bottled using total c.100mg/litro (c.35mg/litro free) of sulphur.
Since 2013 the family stopped using herbicides, & from 2016 they’ve signed up to the environmentally-friendly ‘Green Experience’ in looking after their vineyards.
Mattia Franzina’s tiny cantina is tucked away in the village of Buglio-in-Monte which, approaching from il lago di Como (the west), is one of the first settlements on the left as you come into the Valtellina. The family have been farming there for over fifty years, originally livestock & selling grapes, before selling the ‘bué’ & focusing on the fruit. Indeed their 0.8ha includes more than 100 year old plants, mostly Chiavennasca (Nebbiolo), but also Rossola, a paler, more productive, higher acid, & Pignola native varietal; plus some Merlina dotted around the terraces, which is an ancient varietal. Mattia’s a talented agronomist, graduating in 2009, & when not tending his own vines, consults for many for the small producers of the Valtellina.
The soil on these first slopes of the Valtellina is composed of schistous rock terraces & ‘giss’, a compact morainic soil. The terraces are at 350m asl, facing SSW, & the influence of the lake, 25km away, is felt by the gentle breeze that constantly fans the vines.
In 2014 his family took the step of building a new cantina in the village, & celebrated the vintage with 1500 bts of Rosso di Valtellina! Their first Valtellina Superiore, from the terraces above the village, came in 2015, again producing 1500 bts.
Vinification is traditional: the Rosso comes from declassified Valtellina Superiore fruit from three Buglio vineyards, fermented in stainless-steel, with 20% of the wine ageing briefly in tonneaux. The Valtellina Superiore invece is aged for 12 months in a single 10HL Veneta Botte bought in 2014. Total sulphur at bottling is circa 40mg/litro.
Lying adjacent to his vines, but way up above is perched Valtellina’s smallest vineyard: Maroggia, all 25ha of it. His dream is to rent the top plot on this knoll, & to produce the region’s first Valtellina Superiore Maroggia!
Organic, uncertified.
Go Mattia!
Torinese by birth, Lara Rocchetti & Luisa Sala – Lalù! – met in 2010 while studying at Pollentia’s Gastronomic Science University, & ended up submitting a joint thesis on how to build a carbon-neutral cantina! On graduation, Lara headed to Argentina, while Luisa went to the Cape wine lands. Neither’s family had any prior viticultural experience, but Luisa & Lara found themselves drawn to both the vine & to making wine.
On their return from abroad, a chance encounter with Trediberri’s Nicola Oberto (at a gathering at Cà d’Carussin) led to a stint working at the cantina’s La Morra vineyards. Indeed it was Nicola’s father Federico who, with typical generosity, opened the door to their first vineyard purchase in 2015, that of a 0.5ha parcel in Roncaglie, La Morra! After Trediberri, the girls worked at both Reva & Conterno-Fantino; they credit Claudia Conterno for his advice on vineyard bio management.
In 2017 & 2018, they worked in Burgundy: first at Domaine Lafon in Meursault (vinifying the 2017 Montrachet!), before heading to Morey St.Denis to assist Cecile Tremblay.
In 2019 they took the plunge, creating their own domain Az. Agr. Lalù & renting a small cantina in Serralunga d’Alba in which to vinify the 3.5ha of vines from the communes of Monforte d’Alba & La Morra: including 0.3ha Monforte Le Coste, 0.5ha La Morra’s Roncaglie, & 1.5ha Monforte’s Bussia Brovi (opposite Bussia Corsini). They have invested in their future, equipping the cantina with cement tanks, a 25HL wooden tino, peristatic pumps, a new destemmer, balloon press & a 15HL botte grande. It is in this Serralunga cantina that they will be vinifying their first harvest of Barbera d’Alba from Monforte’s Bussia, Langhe Nebbiolo from La Morra’s Roncaglie vineyard, plus the cherry on the cake: Nebbiolo da Barolo from the Monforte vineyard of Le Coste! Total production will be tiny at 8k bottles/anno.
They are now on the lookout for another vineyard, so dite-crociate!
Located in the heart of the Valtellina region in the village of Castione Andevenno, on the western end of the Sassella zone historically known as ‘Grisoni’ behind the family cantina, Alfio Mozzi is the third generation contadino to work his family’s schist terraces, along with his nephew Alessandro. Nonno Domenico was already making wine from 1.5ha of vines during the 1940s & ’50s, selling it in bulk to the local cooperative, Enologica Valtellina in Sondrio, & they in turn to the neighbouring Swiss market. Alfio’s father Ezio (nato ’35) tended the vines at the weekend, along with his wife Bambina, but earned a living from transporting feed in the valley; he now helps his son in the vineyards, aided by their dog ‘Giubi’.
Born in 1972, Alfio grew up among the vines, although he became a ‘fabbro’ (ironmonger) first for ten years, before returning to the family estate in 1998. In 2009 he made the step-change from fruit grower to bottler, restoring the family’s old cantina. In 2010, he was joined by Alessandro, a passionate agronomist who studied at the Agraria Institute of Sondrio. The estate now stands at 3.5ha of Chiavennasca (Nebbiolo), all within the prized Sassella zone/vineyard, on friable, rocky, free-draining schist terraces at between 350 – 550m asl, facing SE for the Valtellina Superiore plots of ‘Ronchi’ & ‘Uratori’, & SW for the old vineyard of Mossino at 550m asl. They also grow some Rossola in the highest (550m asl) vineyard of Mossino. Some of their vines are 100 years old, especially in Mossino, while new plantings use a variety of Chiavennasca clones, such as CR34, 269, 275, 274.
They are in the process of converting to certified organic. Since 2010 Alfio & Alessandro have stopped applying fertiliser or calc to their terraced vineyards. And since 2012 they stopped using herbicides. Indeed, as a result Alfio has noticed three benefits: bunches have become looser & smaller; the grapes now have a distinctly richer bloom; & the fermenting wine throws less ‘fecce’, i.e. is cleaner.
In 2019 Alfio added a new vinification room to the family cantina, along with a new destemmer & pneumatic press. Spontaneous fermentation takes place in stainless-steel & fibre-glass, with pumping over of the Chiavennasca must taking place over c.20 days using spontaneous yeast. Unforced malolactic takes place in the spring following the harvest, in Garbellotto (French light toast) 32HL & 22HL botti grande that the family have been buying since 2010. Affinamento in botte is for c.20 mths for the Valtellina Superiore & c.32 mths for the Riserva. The wines are bottled with c.60mg of total sulphur. Production is limited at c.8k bottles of Valtellina Superiore & 2.5k bottles of VS Riserva
They produce three wines: Sassella Valtellina Superiore; Sassella Valtellina Superiore Riserva (in good years); & Sforzato di Valtellina (a partial passito wine).
The labels show the Opuntia Fico d’India, a wild variety that thrives among their schist rocky terraces.
Alfio is supported by his wife Monia, & children Sofia & Matteo.
There have been Castaldi’s in the Alto Piemonte town of Briona, close to Novara, since the 1700s. Originally their surname would have been ‘Castellano’ as they served in the 12th century Castello di Briona – located above the cantina – once part of the Lombard kingdom, now owned by the Marchese di Solaroli. The family estate was founded by ‘nonno’ Pierino (nato 1922), who came from nearby Cavaglio d’Agogna. In those early days, it was a classic farm, tending vines to sell to the cooperative, along with livestock & of course the rice fields for which Novara is also famous.
All change in 1996 when Francesca Castaldi took the plunge & bought the shares of her five siblings before producing her inaugural vintage: 2001. Ten years later, in 2011, she & her son Marco, built a new cantina, ushering in a new era. Tonneaux gave way to Grenier 20HL botti grandi in 2014 & from 2015 the small family property has been converting to organic (although they haven’t used herbicides since 2009). A clearly talented family, Francesca’s daughter Lucia is also a top winemaker!
Marco was born in 1991, graduated in agraria at Novara, worked in London for three years (2011-2014) & has worked harvests in Australia (Mornington Pensinsula) & more locally in Soave. He is responsible for the cantina, & has been supported by a local consultant Maurizio Forgia since 2011.
Briona is the gateway to the river Sesia valley. The 6.5ha of vines are located on a 250 metre asl plateau of acidic soils comprising clay, glacial morainic stones, volcanic dust & alluvial matter. The family has circa 4ha of Nebbiolo, Colline Novaresi, 1ha of Erbaluce, 1ha of Vespolina, plus some Uva Rara & Barbera.
Their flagship wine is Fara DOC, a blend of 70% Nebbiolo & 30% Vespolina, vinified for circa 20-30 days on the skins (pumping over), & then aged for two years in Grenier 20HL botti grandi, new in 2014; production is limited to 2,500bt/anno. Total sulphur levels are at c. 50mg/litro.
The family continue to invest in the estate, buying new stainless steel & botti grandi.
This important Langhe family dates back to 1880, their cantina is to be found in the town of Bra, but the family originates from the village of La Morra. Bra was very much a key hub in the movement of Barolo in the early years due to its train station built in 1874, linking Torino to Savona, via Bra & Cervere (before Alba built their’s). Indeed in those days there were c. ten Barolo producers/negociants in the town, of which only Cantine Ascheri Giacomo survives.
The cantina today is run by la Signora Cristina Ascheri, mother of Matteo who took over from his father Giacomo in 1988, & alongside is Giuliano Bedino the enologo since 1996 & Matteo’s son Giuseppe. They have 16ha of Nebbiolo da Barolo vineyards from across three communes/villages: La Morra, Verduno & Serralunga d’Alba. Incidentally, Matteo is currently the Presidente of the Consorzio of Barbaresco & Barolo growers.
Historically they have always made a traditional Barolo, blended from across the three villages of La Morra, Verduno & Serralunga d’Alba. From 1999 they started releasing the four single vineyard Baroli: Pisapola (Verduno), Sorano (Serralunga d’Alba), & ‘Coste e Bricco’ (Serralunga d’Alba) from 1999, with La Morra’s Ascheri – from where the family originally herald – from 2010. These single vineyard Barolos are only made in exceptional years – most recently in 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, & then forecast to be in 2019.
Vinification is classical, employing BR97 locally-selected yeast, pumping over or submerged cap for up to 20 days, before ageing the wines ageing for circa 18 mths in largely botti grandi of between 10-20HL, plus a small percentage of French 500litre tonneaux. Since vintage 2010, the Barolos are closed using DIAM30. Total sulphur tends to be c. 75mg/litro at bottling.
Descended from Verduno’s famous Il Commendatore G.B. Burlotto, who supplied the House of Savoia from his estate during the 1860s, it was Andrea Burlotto, his great grandson, who founded Cantina Massara in the early 1900s. Andrea fathered seven children (2 daughters Giuseppina & Luciana, & 5 sons Francesco, GianCarlo, Giacomino, Sergio & GianBattista) & started bottling the Barolo in the early 1970s, before passing away in 1995; leaving the 40ha mixed farm estate to his 7 offspring to manage.
This they did as a collective until 2013 when GianCarlo & his son Gianluca (left), a graduate of Alba’s Umberto 1 Wine School who had joined the family estate in 2002, decided to hive off 10ha of vines from the family estate, all in the comune of Verduno, & to focus their energies on producing wine. 2013 was also the vintage in which Giancarlo & Gianluca Burlotto first released a Barolo Massara, from the fine old 1969 planted parcel that lies high up below the village of Verduno itself (arriving from Roddi). In vintage 2015 they also produced their inaugural Barolo Monvigliero from a tiny parcel in affitto in the heart of the famous vineyard. The Burlotto family also own vines in the vineyards of Castagni, Neirane, Silio, & Campasso.
In the meantime: in 2000 the Burlottos bought a new destemmer; in 2007 they built a new cantina in the centre of the village, attached to the historic cellar, & also invested in several new 75 & 100HL Garbellotto botti, plus a new pneumatic press into the bargain! Gianluca has a sister Claudia, who now helps in the cantina. Gianluca is married to Carla of Gallo & they have two small children Federico & Anna.
Vinification is traditional. Nebbiolo da Barolo: co-fermented fruit (for the Barolo classico), stainless-steel open-vat temperature controllato (c. 28 degrees), selected yeast, followed by circa 15 – 20 days pumping over/remontaggio, no submerged cap, maceration or punching down (i.e. very gentle), followed malolactic in stainless steel, & by 36 months in botti grandi of 16HL, 50HL, 75HL & 100HL with minimal racking; the most recent botti bought in 2008. DIAM10 corks are used.
From north of Torino, bordering the Val d’Aosta, comes Chiussuma of Caluso & Carema.
In 2016 young Matteo Ravera Chion, a tall Anthropology graduate of Torino University, joined forces with locals Rudy & his wife Alessandra to create Chiussuma, named after the waterfall that falls close to their Carema vineyard, which comprises 3ha of Nebbiolo (local Picotener & Prugnet clones) & local Nerd-Ala vines trained high on ‘topia’, trellised across granite/mica pillars that delimit the tiny terraced vineyards at up to 350m asl. The soil is morainic & mica, carried up the impossibly steep slopes from the valley bottom.
In 2020 they released their first Rosso Canavese (2019), ‘Farinel’ (meaning ‘whipsnapper’ in dialect!), all 600 bts of it: a beautifully perfumed blend of Nebbiolo + 10% Nerd-Ala, vinified only in stainless steel & labelled with a picture of a Ghiro, a wild animal with a particularly long tail that inhabits Alpine villages. 2017 Carema is their second vintage, aged in two old barriques & a tonneau; producing 1000 bts total! From vintage 2018, the yield was sufficient to enable them to upgrade to two tonneaux!
Matteo vinifies the Erbaluce from vines in the Caluso village of Piverone – labelled ‘Pajarin’ on account of its straw-like colour – from 1ha of mostly pergola vines that lie in the ancient glacial, acidic, morainic soils close to Ivrea, the grape’s epicentre & source of Piemonte’s first DOC bianco in 1967. Piverone lies near the Lago di Viverone, a volcanic lake. Leggy Erbaluce vines are trellised high on ‘pergola Calusiese’ (at 1k plants/ha) on the splayed slopes of the Serra di Ivrea, in the comune of Palazzo Canavese. Erbaluce is related to Fiano, having been brought to Piemonte by the Romans. Its finest expression is achieved among the Canavese hills north of Torino, in the comune of Caluso, where it looks up the Val d’Aosta & benefits from its dramatic temperature oscillations.
Carema was also awarded its DOC in 1967, & is found 30mins by car up the tight, sheer granite & mica valley on the Piemontese border with the Val d’Aosta, is found the 60ha region of Carema, whose history dates back to 1539 & to the documented works of Papa Paolo III Farnese, in which he celebrated the wines as being worthy of ‘Principi e Signori’ (‘Princes & Gentlemen’). Carema vinification is traditional, preserving the integrity of the Nebbiolo, Picotener & ‘Neretti’ grapes, with skin maceration circa 15 days, followed by 18 mths in 500litre used tonneaux. Production of both wines is limited; notably of the Carema (max. 1200 bts/anno). Their debut vintage being 2016.
Their Carema vineyard is also home to three divine donkeys: Ernesto, Angelica (with long fringe!) & Nerina!
In 2011 Paolo Cominoli joined his nonna Vittoria Binotti at their tiny 5ha family estate, whose roots lie deep in the soft, acidic, Monte Rosa morainic, clay & alluvial soils of the small, historic 14ha Sizzano DOC in the Alto Piemonte region. Sizzano was the second region to be awarded DOC in 1969 after Gattinara.
The Comero vineyards comprise Vespolina (a relation of Nebbiolo), Nebbiolo (3ha in total, of which just 1ha is allowed for Sizzano) & Erbaluce (1ha only). They lie at c. 200metres ASL, along the banks of the river Sesia valley & above the village of Sizzano; they were planted largely in 2000. In 2009 they renovated the old farm buildings to create a new cantina were the vinification, affinamento, stocking happens. Paolo’s first vintage was 2011, at which point he made just Sizzano. In 2013 they also started working with three plots of Erbaluce, one of which was planted – maggiorina trellised – in the 1960s.
The Sizzano DOC stipulates a min. 50% Nebbiolo (Spanna) & maximum of 50% of Vespolina &/or Uva Rara (Bonarda Novarese); plus 10% of red, non-aromatic, Piemontese fruit may be sourced. Ageing of SizzanoDOC is min 22mths, of which 16mths should be in wood.
Paolo’s Sizzano DOC wine is made up of 65/70% Nebbiolo & 30/35% Vespolina (no Uva Rara), vinified for between 15 – 20 days on the skins, followed by up to 24 mths in 10HL botti grandi. Total acidity tends to be at 6grams/litro; pH at 3.50; alcohol 13.5%; production c.1300 bts (vintage 2015).
When not tending his vines, Paolo works at the Berlucchi estate of Franciacorta, in both the vineyards & cantina.