“Vigna Covà" Rosso Lessona Riserva DOC 2018

Proprietà Sperino | Piedmont
Soc. Agr. Vigneti de Marchi s.s. | Via Orolungo 38 | IT 13853 Lessona

05432518 · 0,75 l · 198,67 €/l · Price (DE) incl. VAT, excl. Shipping< 24 units available

In the Castello district of Lessona, there is a single, rounded hill at an altitude of 350 metres. It is called Covà. It has belonged to Proprietà Sperino for generations, and it is the place where Luca De Marchi brings out the best Lessona has to offer. The vineyard itself has no spectacular story on its lips – no dramatic southern exposure, no special soil formation that separates it from its neighbours.

What characterises Vigna Covà is the consistency with which it is vinified. Not the usual floating cap of marc, which is regularly submerged – but a permanently submerged one: an ancient technique that Felice Sperino, the passionate winegrower and ancestor of the family, documented on this estate in the late 19th century and which Luca De Marchi rediscovered for this wine. The contact between must and skins over 25 days remains gentle but continuous. 100% Nebbiolo. 12 months sur lie. Then 34 months exclusively in large oval 15-hectolitre barrels – no barriques, no new oak, no wood to mask the origin. Then four years of bottle ageing in the cellar before the wine sees the world. The 2018 only came to us after more than half a decade of patience.

Deep ruby red in the glass with the first garnet reflections of maturity. The nose is complex and still at the same time: sour cherry, sandalwood, dried violets, leather, herbs, liquorice, a long mineral undertone that holds everything together like a keynote. The difference is evident on the palate: more texture, more depth, a tannin that is already velvety and still has decades ahead of it. The acidity is cool and carrying, the final is long and remarkably complex – pine resin, dry herbs, sea salt. SUPERIORE.DE

"The 2018 Lessona Riserva Vigna Covà is a complex, beguiling wine. Dark macerated cherry, tobacco, dried herbs, leather, incense and crushed autumn leaves give this deceptively mid-weight Lessona tons of aromatic presence. Brisk and sneakily persistent, the 2018 comes across as a bit delicate in its first impression, but it then explodes on the mid-palate and finish. At nearly eight years of age, the 2018 has gorgeous aromatic complexity, as well as the structure to continue to age for many years to come." Vinous