Hidden away in the little known Barbaresco village of San Rocco Seno d’Elvio, just outside Alba, is the single plot of 4 hectares (of Nebbiolo, Barbera & Dolcetto) farmed by Manuel Marinacci. A mere 1.5 ha of which lies in the Barbaresco MGA of Rocche Massalupo.
Manuel’s a young wine producer whose biggest claim to fame to date is as a class-mate of Giuseppe Mascarello at Alba’s viticultural school Umberto 1, which he left in the mid 1990s. Upon graduation Manuel worked abroad & locally for both large and small cantine/wineries before taking on the lease of the San Rocco Seno d’Elvio vineyard in 2002. Vintage 2004 was his first release. Manuel makes three wines: Dolcetto d’Alba, Barbera d’Alba and Barbaresco. Refreshingly Manuel immediately adopted the traditional approach to winemaking; Giuseppe’s influence perhaps rubbing off on him! His Nebbiolo for Barbaresco is vinified in either fibre-glass or cement without temperature control using selected or wild yeast. As he explains: ‘as a two-man operation I need the comfort of knowing that the ferments will happen when I’m away from the cantina’.
The Barbaresco is then aged in large slavonian botte for two years. Importantly he only vinifies that which is going into bottle with his name on it (rather than making wine out of all the crop and selling off any surplus as bulk wine); the rest is sold as fruit. So currently production of Barbaresco is at a third of capacity, circa 500 cases per annum. The style of Manuel’s wines are grounded in tradition, showing a kirsch purity & minerality normally associated with the comune of Treiso above.
From 2017, his Barbaresco will feature the MGA/vineyard name of (Vigna) Rocche Massalupo.
> Converting to organic. Bottling at 60mg/litro total & 30mg/litro free sulphur.
The son of a teacher from the ‘borgata’/hamlet of Albesani, close to the Barbaresco village of Neive, young Francesco Versio graduated in 2005 from Alba’s Umberto 1 wine school & in 2009 from Turin University, specialising in viti & viniculture. He worked briefly at the cooperative Terre di Barolo before joining Bruno Giacosa first as a cellarman & then as their oenologist in June 2011.
His family own a tiny property of two small plots of old vines in the ‘comune’ of Neive: one in the vineyard of San Cristoforo, planted in 1969; the other, Currà, even older, lies below San Cristoforo. Both face south-west & overlook the village of Barbaresco; both were rented out until 2012. The ‘terreno’ of San Cristoforo is more calcareo/calcareous, giving freshness & perfume; that of Currà is more sabbioso/sandier, imparting a warm softness to the wine.
In 2013 Francesco made only 20HL (2,600 bts) of his first Barbaresco from their two vineyards, at a yield of circa 30HL/ha, in the basement cellar of this parents’ house. He spent his earnings on a new temperature-controlled stainless-steel tank – the controlling element to be used only in emergency – & a large Stockinger botte grande. Vinification is traditional, with long macerations on the skins when the vintage allows; the wines always being bottled with approx. 25 mg of free sulphur.
The 2014 vintage, produced from fruit from Neive’s San Cristoforo vineyard, was down by 50% due to the vintage & because he replanted the Currà vineyard (with 60% Lampia, 30% Michet & 10% Picotener). Vintage 2015 was also made from the single, calcareous San Cristoforo vineyard. From vintage 2016 Francesco has bought fruit from a nearby Neive vineyard, Tetti/Cotta.
In 2017 he took on a small ESE vineyard in Borgata Pamparato, between Dogliani & Belvedere Langhe, at 500m asl, from which he is making Dogliani DOCG & perhaps in due course some Langhe Nebbiolo…plans are also afoot to invest in another botte grande & cement tank!
His 2019 Barbaresco will be a Neive village blend of San Cristoforo, Currà, & (for the first time) Starderi!
Lying in the heart of one of Barolo’s most famous vineyard’s Cannubi in the village of Barolo, this small, traditional, 5th generation family-owned cantina (winery) dates back to 1897, and to Cavalier Francesco Borgogno. More recently it was his descendants, brothers Serio and Battista Borgogno who set about developing the cantina during the 1960s and ‘70s when the emphasis was largely on quantity not quality, buying in fruit/wine to fill their outsized winery. Today the baton has been passed to Serio’s daughters Anna (Bolla) and Paola (Boffa) and in turn their offspring Emanuela and Federica respectively. Anna’s husband Marco is making the wine, aided by Emanuela and since 2012 by enologo Luca Sarotto. These days the focus is increasingly on their vineyard holding of Cannubi, with plots facing south, north/east and west, while they continue to buy some fruit in for a separate white label range.
Vinification is traditional, fermenting in large wooden vats, before racking to Garbellotto and Veneto slavonian oak botte of up to 52hl for traditionally long affinamento/elevage. They also release a long aged Riserva in good years. The Dolcetto comes from their Liste vineyard in the village of Barolo.
In vintage 2018, they launched two new wines: Langhe Nascetta & Langhe Nebbiolo!
> Converting to organic.
‘Conterno’ is a surname that’s synonymous with Monforte d’Alba, & coincidentally quite a few of them are Barolo producers!
This Conterno family is related to that of Conterno-Fantino through father Diego – but unrelated when it comes to wine style! – & their new winery is ironically located just up the slope from Giacomo Conterno, of no relation. Diego, a graduate of the Umberto 1 Enological School, is well-grounded in making traditional Barolo, having worked under Beppe Colla at Prunotto. In 2000 Diego decided to sell his share of Conterno-Fantino, take his vines including the plum Ginestra plot, & started afresh.
While 2003 was their first vintage as ‘Diego Conterno’, producing all of 1300 bts of Barolo (Ginestra), the family’s history dates back to the post WWII Baroli of ancestors Lorenzo & Attilio Conterno. 2005 witnessed 100% of the estate fruit being bottled. Father & son tend the vines & make the wines; Stefano joining in 2010 – the first year their Sori Ginestra was bottled separately! Aided by a new wing to their winery in 2014, allowing them a bit more space, Diego & Stefano are making classic Monforte Barolo: static fermenters (not rotos), cement & the use of increasingly large botte grande (another two due late 2016), to give broad, brambly & minerally pure Baroli. But perhaps the winery’s greatest surprise, apart from the profondita of their Barolo Ginestra, is the pineapply Langhe Nascetta, grown on grey marl soils – rich & minerally!
Diego, his wife Anna & ‘children’ Stefano (27 & a surveyor by training) & Lorenza (now a nurse), have 7.5ha of vineyards located in the village; 2ha of which are in the ‘Grand Cru’ vineyard of Ginestra, the ‘Sori’ (full south) heart of which faces plum south at right angles to the sun & was planted in 1982. The remaining 5.5ha are split between Nebbiolo for Barolo vineyards of San Pietro, Pajana & Gris (grey in dialect on account of its fine grey marl soil); they also have Nebbiolo (d’Alba), Barbera, Dolcetto & Nascetta planted in the full west facing Ferrione vineyard below the winery itself. From vintage 2018, the family has begun renting a small parcel of Monforte Le Coste!
Since 2010 all the vineyards have been converted to organic, & certified in 2014.
The Bovone family herald from Ovada where they were wine merchants until Gian Piero Bovone bought the Cornarea estate back in 1974. Having studied oenology, Gian Piero had figured out that reductive, anaerobic winemaking was the key to vinifying Arneis. He then invested in the single vineyard of 15 hectares overlooking the small town of Canale, where he had the foresight to replant almost the entire hill to the white Arneis grape, culminating, in 1981, with their first single varietal wine.
The key to Cornarea’s high quality white wine Arneis DOCG (in north-west Piedmont in Italy) is ‘la terra’: 30 million year old Miocene former sea bed soils rich in marine fossils, water retentive ‘agrilla di Lugagnano’ & minerally magnesium, that originates from Monte Rosa. In fact so rich is the soil in magnesium that a couple of doctors from nearby Canale made their fortune selling salt of magnesium, dug up locally, as a remedy during the late 19th century. The presence of magnesium, giving minerality to the wine, is apparently common to three villages: Canale, Montà, & Monteu Roero.
From vintage 2021, Pier & Gian will release their Roero DOCG vigna Santa Margherita; from c.45 yo Nebbiolo vines, vinified in static-stainless steel, with regular delestaggio/rack n’ return for 10 days, followed by ageing in second fill French tonneaux of 500L.
> Converting to organic
Gianmario Cerutti’s family own 6ha of prime sandy calcareous soils at Cassinasco, 480metres above sea level overlooking Canelli, the Moscato d’Asti & Metodo Classico capital in the Langhe Astigiani (& of Italia!) No surprise then that Gianmario focuses his energy on producing primarily a Moscato d’Asti Canelli DOCG & (since vintage 2015) an Alta Langa DOCG.
Gianmario’s grandfather, Enrico 1, bought the current Cascina in 1931, selling off the fruit. In the 1940s, the family started to vinify their fruit before the first bottling in the ’70s. Fourth generation Gianmario graduated from Alba’s viticultural school Umberto 1 in 1992 & began at the family cantina in 1994, while also moonlighting as a key buyer/winemaker at the Coppo winery. Indeed it is here that their Alta Langa is aged & bottled.
They make the Moscato d’Asti Canelli from two sites: ‘Suri Galle’ at 380m asl SE facing, e ‘Suri Sandrinet’ at 320m asl, SW facing on white sandier soils.
Since vintage 2011, Gianmario has also been sourcing fruit to make a Metodo Classico, now Alta Langa DOCG, from two sites: 80% Pinot Nero from white calc & limo (silt) vineyards in Bubbio, in the Val Bormida, & 20% Chardonnay from white sand & calc Cassinasco, in the Val Belbo at between 300 – 400m asl. From the 2015 vintage this wine has now become Alta Langa DOCG Brut.
His father Enrico II breeds pretty, prize-winning canaries so the Cascina shrills to birdsong. His mother Luciana makes a delicious ‘torta di nocciola’ (hazelnut cake), & his wife Anita works along her family at the excellent Ristorante Casa Crippa in Canelli!
In his spare time (!), Gianmario is also Presidente of the Associazione Produttori Moscato di Canelli; an associated member of the Consorzio dell’Alta Langa; & on the Consiglio (Board) di Amministrazione della FIVI (Federazione Italiano Viticultori Indipendente)!
The ‘Canelli’ denominazione of Moscato d’Asti applies to Gianmario’s wine because the village of Cassinasco is one of the 23 communes in the ‘Canelli’ sub-region famous for Moscato d’Asti; Canelli comprises 95ha, while Santa Vittoria (Roero) is only 2ha, & Strevi 0.5ha! Current total Moscato d’Asti production in 2017 was 35 million bottles; Cerutti produces 8,000!
> Essentially organic but will resort to chemicals if absolutely necessary.
Cantina Mascarello Bartolo remains one of the most revered Barolo domaines. Founded in 1919, its reputation was secured by the founder Giulio, then his son, the late great Bartolo Mascarello and since 2005 by his daughter Maria-Teresa Mascarello, whose first vintage was in 1993.
Giulio’s father Bartolomeo had moved from the La Morra borgata of Torriglione to Barolo, along with his parcel of Rocche dell’Annunziata, working in the Cantina Sociale located in the village of Barolo, & working his way to become Presidente before it closed with the onset of the 1915-18 War. By which time he had married Teresa Bianco of the village. Indeed it was Bartolomeo & his son Giulio who set up the family business ‘in proprio’ in 1919. Giulio then married Maria Rinaldi…hence Maria-Teresa Mascarello!
The 5 hectare domaine lies in the Barolo village on prime sandy calcareous clay Tortonian soils, with the vineyards of Cannubi, San Lorenzo, Ruè, & Rocche del Annunziata (La Morra) at its heart. Vintage 2014 was the last harvest of the old vine vineyard San Lorenzo, that was then left fallow & replanted. The fruit of the new San Lorenzo vines were first added to vintage 2020.
From 2015, the cantina has rented vines in Monrobiolo di Bussia, close to those of their Dolcetto & Freisa vines.
Only one Barolo continues to be made, co-fermenting the fruit from different vineyards, respecting tradition & benefitting from the sum of the parts: a classic blend.
The style remains traditional. The fruit is co-fermented, with vinification taking place in cement & wooden cuves, without recourse to yeast or temperature control. The Barolo is aged for approx. 3 years in 25 hl Slavonian botte (all recently replaced), followed by 1 year in bottle prior to release.
Maria-Teresa believes quite simply that the key to great wine is to produce the healthiest, ripest fruit possible.
Essentially organic but will resort to chemicals if absolutely necessary.
> Nothing currently available as demand exceeds supply
Mattia Antoniotti works alongside his father Odilio & madre Piera at this 19th century cantina, dating back to 1863. They are situated in the northern Alto Piemonte village of Casa del Bosco, in the provincia of Vercelli, that form part of the 28-hectare region of Bramaterra among the pre-Alps, surrounded by woodland. They farm circa 6 hectares of Nebbiolo, Croatina, Vespolina and Uva Rara vines, the fruit of which Odilio first bottled in 1970. First documented in 1447, Bramaterra was awarded the DOC in 1979; it was known as the ‘vino dei Canonici’ due to its popularity among the Vercellese clergy.
The Bramaterra DOC rules that there must be a maximum of 80% Nebbiolo (Spanna) in Bramaterra; Mattia believes that the addition of the other grape varieties gives a more balanced & expression of territory. Indeed they both approve of the latest, 2023 proposal to allow between 70-90% Nebbiolo in the final Bramaterra DOC blend, but stop short of 100%. Currently their Martinazzi vyd is planted to 78% Nebbiolo, complanted with the other three varieties, & is due out as a single vineyard label Bramaterra for the first time in vintage 2022.
The soils are essentially volcanic porphyry – issue of the Valsesia supervolcano 280million yrs ago – along with veins of rose quartz and caolino limestone; soils that are more acidic and richer in minerals but less fertile than the soils of the Langhe, producing perfumed yet modest alcohol wines; their fresh, high acid structures due to the northern latitudes, the proximity of the Alps, & the abundant woodland that surround the vineyards (but which are the refuge of plundering deer, boar, & badgers!) The fruit is co-fermented in cement, stainless-steel and Slavonian & French oak botte.
2020 saw the completion of a new bottle store extension of the cantina, while vintage 2022 will see the release of their first Bramaterra vigna Martinazzi, from the family’s historical cru dating back to 1863.
> Organic, uncertified
Marco & Sandra Sara, with their two boys Pietro & Tobias, are young Colli Orientali del Friuli producers whose family & 6 hectares of vines and 4 hectares of woods are located just north-east of Udine in the commune of Povoletto – a pre-Alps range of hills that separate Friuli from Slovenia. Here, at between 75 – 300 msl, the flysch marne (‘ponca’) and sandstone slopes favour Marco Sara’s white and red indigenous grape varieties Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, Picolit, Verduzzo, Schioppettino, Refosco, along with some Cabernet Franc, imbuing the wines with a lower pH, & a spine.
Marco took over the reins of his family cantina in 2000, making the switch from selling off in bulk to bottling the fruit himself. In 2005 the estate became organic; it was also the year when he first bottled sweet wines Picolit and Verduzzo. He makes small quantities of hand-made wine, using organic fruit and wild yeast. These are authentic fine wines that speak of an indigenous grape, that respect and reflect local tradition and territory.
The backdrop to their vyds are the imposing pre-Alpi Giulia range of mountains that lie to the north of the Colli Orientali del Friuli, & who presence is felt by a cooling breeze throughout the year. Here in their pretty comune of Povoletto, a few kilometres north of Udine, the Colli Orientali are at circa 250m asl, on sedimentary soils of clay & friable ‘ponca’ (marne/flysch), rich in calcite & quartz. It is these ‘ponca’ soils, also found in the much warmer zone of Buttrio e Corno di Rosazzo just to the south, that make the difference in the top sites.
Their 6ha (2ha Friulano, 1.5 Schioppettino & 2.5ha mix of Picolit, Refosco, Peduncolo, Verduzzo & Ribolla Gialla) are all in colline, with Schioppettino occupying the highest, richest in ponca sites, often surrounded by woodland (that also cool the vines below & keep alcohols at modest levels). Indeed Marco & Sandra are constantly at the ricerca, searching to bring out the energetic ponca expression in their wines, especially through Schioppettino; they grow this variety on three different soil types (gravel, clay & ponca/flysch), vinified separately, before blending & bottling 18 mths after the harvest. Marco vinifies at circa 22celsius (for whites), using wild yeasts in both cement & stainless-steel, with 500Litre French tonneaux & 10HL Garbellotto used for affinamento/élévage.
Their Picolit is harvested clean & then undergoes appassimento for 3 months in baskets stored in Marco’s mother’s attic. Then the bunches are sorted, separating the ‘muffato’/botrytized fruit from the still clean, non-botrytized fruit, & vinifying them separately. The ‘muffato’ (‘Mufis’) must is vinified in stainless steel, while the rest is fermented in French tonneaux; blending of the two together takes place during the autumn pre-spring bottling. 2017 comprised 100% muffato/botrytized fruit, while 2018 will be 60% non-muffato, 40% muffato!
Increasingly Marco & Sandra have recognised that three varieties perform best on their unique ponca/flysch, hilly terreno: Friulano, Schioppettino & Picolit!
> Certified organic (CeViq)
The Lucano family of Carbone is located in Melfi, Basilicata, close to the stunning Norman & subsequently Anjou & Swabian castle, in an ancient cellar hewn out of the black lava rock, they first planted Aglianico vines in the 1970s. Up until vintage 2005, & as was the tradition in the area, the family sold their fruit off; in their case it was to then famous cantina of Paternoster.
Since 2005, Sara and her brother Luca have bottled their fruit themselves; initially with the help of Sergio Paternoster as consultant, but then on their own from vintage 2015. They focus their energy on 8 hectares planted in the sooty black, potassium rich, volcanic ash soils vineyards of the Aglianico del Vulture DOC(G). Their key vineyards are: 40 year old vine, masale selection Piani dell’Incoronata at 550 mtrs asl; Monte Lapis (also planted in the 1980s); & 2009 clone-planted Braida at 560m asl, on clay & volcanic dust. Vinification takes place in stainless steel, with affinamento/elevage in used and new French barrique and tonneaux, before returning to stainless-steel.
They produce three Aglianico del Vulture wines: the first, ‘400 Some’ after the 400 mules belonging to King Carlo d’Angio of Southern Italy; predominantly from Monte Lapis & Braida fruit aged in predomoninantly 300 french oak barrels. The second: ‘Stupor Mundi’, celebrating the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (1194-1250), from Piani dell’Incoronata fruit only, aged for 12/15 months in 500 litre used French tonneaux. And the third Aglianico is a Riserva DOCG Stupor Mundi’, first made in vintage 2011, aged for 2 years in tonneaux, & released for sale in autun of the 5th year. They also make a Fiano Basilicata Bianco!
Fruit of the chocolate brown volcanic soils that surround Monte Vulture, this is classic damson & graphite, full-bodied, fresh & authentic Aglianico del Vulture at its very best.
From 2012 conversion in biologico/organic, certified in 2015 by Assoc. Suolo e Saluta