Located high up in the comune of Monteu Roero, the Moretti family of Giovanni e Mirella, son Adriano & zio Elio, are proud custodians of 22ha of agriculture land, fruit (fragole!) & vegetables…including 5ha of vineyards, comprising Arneis, Favorita, Barbera, & Nebbiolo.
The family originate from Occhetti below, but then transferred up to Monteu Roero in the 1960s under the supervision of Giovanni’s madre Daria, whose nickname was ‘Bajaj’.
Since 2014, Giovanni’s son Adriano has taken taken responsibility for the cantina & production of their wines, which are made from Monteu Roero vyds, notably Bric Nota, San Vincenzo, & Gaiuccio, with Nebbiolo Roero DOCG & Langhe Nebbiolo being the focus. Indeed their first commercial bottling under the ‘BAJAJ’ label came in 2015.
Monteu Roero soils are a mix of sabbia d’asti & superiore argilla di Lugagnano clay. At Adriano’s side is enologo Manuele Priolo – la sua braccia destra – while since 2019, super-agronomo Edmondo Bonelli has been advising them.
The wines are vinified using wild yeast/pied de cuve in a variety of vessels: stainless-steel, anfora, barriques, with minimal use of copper/rame, & re-assuring levels of sulphur (c. 70 mg/L totale).
They adopt a ‘subtractive’ approach to winemaking; that is they avoid all that they consider unnecessary to making their wines:
Their approach is to be as natural & respectful as possible, not only for the environment but also for their own health & of those working alongside them.
> Without excess; without extremes. In essence: “in medio stat virtus” – La virtù sta nel mezzo – virtue lies in the middle (Aristotle)
press recognition: http://www.cantinatibaldi.com/news_eventi.asp
Sisters Monica & Daniela come from a long line of Tibaldis, many of whom lie on the same road close to the village of Pocapaglia in the Roero. It was their great grandfather Stefano who began working the vines during the early 20th century, followed by his son Tunin when he wasn’t working in a factory, inspiring the girls to launch the family cantina/winery in 2014. They’re supported by their father Stefano, a gifted ironmonger who doubles up as a ‘trattorista’ (tractor driver) in his spare time, & by their mother Margherita, a cowgirl from Saluzzo. Daniela (& Monica) trained in accountancy, then as a sommelier, while her older sister Monica studied viticulture & enology at Turin University, followed by a further year in Asti & a Masters in Madrid!
They have close to 7ha in total, located in three distinct MGA zones: Mormoré & Bricco delle Passere in the commune of Pocapaglia & the Coste Anforiano vineyard in Santa Vittoria. In Pocapaglia the hilly soils are Miocenic marine sand (stone), rich with fossils in origin, ideal for their two key white grapes/wines: Favorita & Arneis. In 2012 they identified a perfect 0.7ha Nebbiolo vineyard for their Roero DOCG: Coste Anforiano, that lies on limestone white Marne Sant’Agata clay soils, looking across the Tanaro river valley at Verduno; their debut vintage was 2014. They also make some Barbera & Nebbiolo d’Alba.
The whites are classically vinified in stainless steel, using wild yeasts from vintage 2015. The Roero DOCG was initially aged in used barriques but the girls have decided that botti grandi is the future, switching to botti grandi with the 2015 vintage, & then investing in one of 10HL & another of 25HL for the 2016 harvest.
In 2019 they released their first Roero Arneis Metodo Classico ‘Pas Dosé’ from vintage 2015!
They farm organically, & converting to certified from 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