Wines from Piedmont

Il Favot bears the name of the estate that Aldo acquired in 1969: "Cascina Favot" in Bussia. It is the only wine in the portfolio that is named after the family estate, and this naming reveals the Conternos' personal attachment to this Nebbiolo. But why not call it Barolo? After all, the grapes come from the same legendary Bussia vineyards that produce Bussia and Granbussia. The answer lies in the age: Il Favot is made exclusively from vines under 15 years of age – the young vines that will one day produce the great Barolo. A baby Barolo with pedigree. The vinification is deliberately designed for earlier drinking maturity: only six to eight days of maceration to extract less tannin and more colour, followed by a few months in stainless steel tanks. The wine is then aged for 15 to 18 months in new French Allier barriques – an unusually opulent treatment for a Langhe Nebbiolo, which gives the wine depth and structure. Aldo Conterno once said: "Vanilla, toast and spice do not belong in Barolo." But in Il Favot? Please, with pleasure.

The relatively young DOC Colli Tortonesi is probably still one of the least known wine regions in Piedmont. The term Derthona is already used as a generic term. It is the old name for Tortona, a small village in the centre of the DOC. The indigenous white grape variety Timorasso led a shadowy existence for many years, but today some winegrowers are already calling it the "white Barolo". This is due to its great complexity and finesse on the one hand and the excellent ageing potential of the wines on the other. In addition, the grapes often vary in size and ripeness during the harvest, which makes selection a major challenge, just as with the great Nebbiolo crus.

Falletto in Serralunga d'Alba is a natural amphitheatre – that compact, concentrated hillside that gives Serralunga its distinctive power. Calcareous soils, south-west to west-facing slopes, a minerality that is audible in every wine from this site. Normally, this is Nebbiolo country. Barolo country. At Giacosa, Barbera also grows here. The difference from the purchased Giacosa Barbera begins in the soil and continues in the cellar: after fermentation in steel – as with the Casa Vinicola wine – , the Falletto Barbera leaves the tank and is transferred to large oak botti for 14 months. The same vessels, the same care as for the house’s Barolos and Barbareschi. No new wood, just the slow oxygenation provided by large, neutral barrels, which gives the wine depth and integration without shaping it.

Prunotto's Barolo is a very beautiful, ethereal wine. Rose petals, spices, blood orange, mint and crushed red berry fruit keep it firmly grounded. On the palate, it is saturated and rich with dark flavours that are firmly connected to spices, liquorice and crushed blue flowers. There is power and richness deep within this wine, the well-proportioned tannin is fresh and firm, giving it energy and drive. SUPERIORE.DE

A historic Barolo from the estate (first produced in 1905!), composed from Nebbiolo parcels in the heart of the appellation. The grapes are selectively harvested by hand, the lots are carefully destemmed and fermented; maceration takes around eight days at moderate temperatures and malolactic fermentation is completed before the onset of winter. The wine then matures for at least 18 months in large oak barrels of various sizes – an ageing process that preserves balance, transparency and expression of origin. The 2021 vintage began with a mild winter and abundant rainfall, which created valuable water reserves. A light frost in mid-April reduced the yields, but without affecting the quality. This was followed by a long, stable summer without heat peaks; scattered thunderstorms in June/July and pronounced day/night amplitudes during the ripening phase ensured a precise harvest from 6 to 15 October. The grapes achieved excellent phenolic ripeness with bright acidity.

Not matured grappa, not brandy and not fruit brandy, but the best of all of the above - Aquardens Composita is an assemblage of young and matured grappa with old brandy and a fruit brandy. The individual distillates are matured separately and then blended. The cuvée then matures for 12 months in barriques of different types of wood. Its bouquet is a concert of impressions, from which notes of tobacco, cocoa and vanilla stand out in particular. These flavours continue in the rich and enveloping taste. SUPERIORE.DE

Some wines are not created out of planning, but out of respect for what old vines can give. In Neive, where the Pola family has run the Fontanabianca winery since 1969, there is a plot of Barbera vines that have taken root in the limestone and clay soils for half a century. From these old vines – uncompromisingly selected and only vinified in exceptional vintages – brunet is the result: a Barbera wine of such concentration and structure that it redefines the conventional notions of this grape variety. The limited production is bottled exclusively in magnums, a format that gives the wine the space to develop that its density and complexity demand.

There are wines that bear the name of their place. And there is this one – it bears the name of the beginning. "Campo delle Piane" was the name of the half hectare of land that Antonio Cerri farmed into old age, when the world around him had long since given up. When Christoph Künzli took over this inheritance at the end of the nineties, it became Le Piane. The wine, which today is simply called Piane, is the essence of this original story – and a tribute to an almost forgotten grape variety: Croatina. The grapes come from the estate's oldest plots, planted between 1910 and 1920 on the hills of Montalbano, Traversagna and Santuario. Centenary roots that reach deep into the volcanic porphyry. Fermented spontaneously, six days on the skins, then matured for two years – first in tonneaux, then in large Slavonian oak vats. No filtration, no intervention. Just time.

The white Zero made history as the first Pas Dosé of the Alta Langa. Its pink-coloured brother goes one step further: here it is the Pinot Nero alone that carries the uncompromising philosophy – 100%, without the Chardonnay as an elegant intermediary. What remains is the pure commitment to one grape variety and one terroir. Saignée – the bloodletting. The method betrays Burgundian roots: after destemming and gentle pressing, the must rests on the skins for two to four hours in a nitrogen atmosphere, just long enough to extract that delicate copper colour that shimmers so seductively in the glass. The yield of blossom must is a maximum of 45% – concentration instead of mass. The grapes come from altitudes between 450 and 550 metres, where the calcareous soils of the Alta Langa give the Pinot Nero mineral tension and aromatic depth.

When Giorgio Rivetti saw the hills of Neive, he immediately recognised the potential lying dormant in this Barbaresco commune: soils and exposures in which he saw the characteristics of the most prestigious crus combined. He bought the land. The Rivettis have since established a presence in Neive with four vineyards, each with its own character, each with its own voice in the estate's Barbaresco orchestra. Bordini is the most delicate of these voices.

Wine Solidarity. The term was coined by Elio Altare and six of his colleagues from the Langhe themselves in 1997, when they turned an idea into a structure that continues to function to this day. The seven founders – Altare, Giovanni Corino, Federico Grasso, the Revello brothers and Mauro Veglio from La Morra, Gianfranco Alessandria from Monforte d’Alba, and La Morandina from Castiglione Tinella – formed a pact: each would produce their own wine under the shared name L’Insieme, up to 5,000 bottles per year. And each would pay 5 euros per bottle produced into the shared fund. Not per bottle sold – per bottle produced.

The name is no coincidence. The plot of land where Giulia Negri's Pinot Nero grows is called La Tartufaia – the truffle ground. Serradenari has been famous for its white truffle for centuries, and the almost 300-year-old natural forest that surrounds the estate is its ideal habitat. At 520 metres above sea level, among the ancient oaks and hazel bushes, lies the north-facing vineyard, which is one of the highest in the entire Barolo appellation. Giulia Negri's father planted Pinot Nero and Chardonnay on the cooler northern slopes – a nod to Burgundy, which was unusual for La Morra. Giulia has turned this into a conviction. The soil here is Messiniano: calcareous clay, structuring, mineral, fundamentally different from the sandy Tortonian of the lower sites. Spontaneous fermentation in conical wooden vats with around 25 days of maceration, then around 20 months in French barriques and tonneaux of 228 and 350 Liters.

Oro – golden name, golden essence. This passito is a real masterpiece, with its bright amber colour and copper reflections, visually announcing its precious concentration and depth. The grapes (100% Moscato Bianco) undergo a deliberate drying process: Harvested late and stored dry until December before undergoing fermentation – including malolactic fermentation and maturation for 24 months in new barriques. A complex process during which the wine matures to a balsamic, honey-saturated elegance.

As always, Castiglione is mainly based on grapes from Ravera, with smaller portions from Ginestra, Mosconi, Bricco Ravera (in Monforte), Le Coste, Costabelle, Meriame, Briccolina and Codana. Every year it is a dazzling wine that shows how convincing even an "entry-level wine" from a top producer can be. Rich, voluptuous and explosive, it has enormous fullness and resonance from the very first sip. On the nose, bright red cherry and plum fruit, wild flowers, mint, blood orange and spices. Its silky tannins are accompanied by a beautiful, mentholated brightness. A real charmer! SUPERIORE.DE

Elena Penna's (London) Dry Gin carries the soul of the Langhe and combines British gin tradition with Piedmontese botanical finesse. Hand-picked alpine herbs from the Langhe hills and the Maritime Alps – juniper from the Maritime Alps, Langhe thyme, coriander, black elderflower, angelica, wild mint, camomile, cassia bark and organic citrus peel from the Ligurian hills – are distilled over a wood fire in two restored 18th century copper stills. The "one-shot" method uses each botanical only once to capture its aromatic essence in the highest purity. No synthetic flavourings, no essential oils, just natural cold filtration through paper filters, which give the gin a delicate yellow hue. The result: intense juniper distillate with balsamic notes, fine herbal flavours and an oily texture that lingers on the palate for a long time – an authentic and complex gin with a Piedmontese soul. SUPERIORE.DE

Tulin is a wine that looks in two directions – on the one hand deeply rooted in the single vineyard of the same name directly below the winery in Treiso, and on the other hand an expression of a modern, consciously contoured interpretation of Barbaresco. The wine comes from a south and south-west facing steep slope on calcareous marl soil, interspersed with layers of blue clay – a terroir that produces structure, precision and clarity. In the great Pelissero canon, Tulin stands for finesse with a backbone. The vines are over 50 years old and produce concentrated, but never exuberant harvest. The wine is matured for around 20 months in tonneaux and large barrels – not for effect, but for balance. Vinification is carried out with open mash fermentation and a great deal of patience in the cellar; the use of wood is deliberately minimised.

With further bottle ageing, this Barbaresco tends to be softer and more open, with soft tannins and a broad palate, thanks to the microclimate created by the cru's proximity to the Tanaro river.

La Tartufaia is the most inviting introduction to Giulia Negri's Barolo universe – and at the same time the most complex in its origin. The grapes come from two vineyards: Serradenari and Brunate. Brunate, one of the most sought-after crus in the entire appellation, straddles the border between La Morra and the village of Barolo – facing west, on tortonian clay with a high sand content and alkaline pH. This soil chemistry is crucial: an alkaline pH means fewer available minerals, more compact vegetation, grapes with thicker skins – and ultimately a Barolo that is fruitier, more accessible and rounder than its siblings. Spontaneous fermentation in 60-hectolitre wooden vats, around 40 days of maceration on the skins – somewhat shorter than the other parcels. Then 24 months in 25-hectolitre Austrian oak barrels.

Only 2,500 bottles of the debut vintage were filled. Eós, named after the Greek goddess of dawn, is the result of a selection of the best Erbaluce grapes from our own vineyards on the volcanic porphyry soils of Boca. The grapes were slowly pressed with a vertical press (torchio) without being crushed or destemmed (whole bunch press). The juice was then poured into large Slavonian oak barrels, where it was aged on the lees for a year. This was followed by a further year of refinement in the barrel and in the bottle.

The youngest of the Produttori cru wines, which saw the light of day in 1978. The palate reveals ripe, silky fruit and an important structure.