The Caligaris family cantina is tucked away in the centre of Gattinara, Alto Piemonte. They can trace their lineage back to the 1500s, & almost certainly to i tempi Romani, as ‘la càliga‘ was a type of sandal worn by Roman (soldiers) garrisoned nearby.
Luca Caligaris is now making the wines at this tiny family estate, assisted by his father Alessandro & mamma Rita. Luca started in 1997, continuing the family tradition passed down from nonno Guido. Luca has a diploma in Perito Agraria, & has studied Viticoltura & Enologia. He is in the process of renovating the ancient family home & cantina.
The family has circa 2ha, of which 1ha is dedicated to growing Nebbiolo da Gattinara in the vineyards of Lurghe, Marzole, & Osso; the latter 350m asl high up among the trees, full south on almost bare porfido rock. The vineyard work is ‘lotte integrato’, doesn’t use herbicides, & the fruit from the vineyards are co-fermented together at the cantina. Luca’s Gattinara comprises 100% Nebbiolo, but in some years he may incorporate a tiny percentage of Uva Rara (up to 10% is allowed in the DOCG). While the wild-growing luppolo (hops) is reserved for the ‘frittate‘!
They produce five wines: Vino ‘Rosso di Sara’ (named after his daughter, a blend of Nebbiolo + Uva Rara, Neretto, Vespolina, & Croatina), DOC Coste della Sesia Rosa di Martina (after the second daughter, a Rosato), DOC Coste della Sesia Nebbiolo (85/90% Nebbiolo), DOCG Gattinara (100% Nebbiolo), DOCG Gattinara Riserva (in exceptional annate).
The wines are classically made, 100% destemmed, fermented in stainless-steel &/or fibre glass, with 3wk long pumping over macerations + delestaggio, MLF in wood, followed by 2 years affinamento in 15/25HL botti for Gattinara. Total sulphur is circa 70mg/Litro at bottling. The new Gattinara vintage is released from 1st October of the third year.
Compared to the porphory & white caolino soils of Bramaterra to the west, the hill of Gattinara appears as a single block of porfido overlooking the river Sesia below, rich with pyrite iron crystals, producing wines of structure & longevity.
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.
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.
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