The Rise of Northern Piedmont: Bramaterra, The Savigny les Beaune of Piedmont and Our Young Genius Protege of Sella

Where the Great Young Winemakers Can Afford Vineyards in Piedmont
Perhaps the Greatest Under $30 Value Wines in Our Italy Portfolio, Maybe the Whole Portfolio
17-20 HL/HA Yields (Almost Lalou Levels) - Only 300 Cases Each 
Bramaterra As Good as Very Good Barbaresco at One-Third the Price
If One Could Liquify the Concept of Fass Selections, It's These Wines
Micro Production, First Time in America

Holy Trinity: Great Terroir, Great Winemaker, Unknown Winemaker in a lesser Known Region ... Stunning Wine at a Phenomenal Value

We all know the hullaballo over the Vietti sale.  It turns out that the main reason that they sold is that they were buying grapes, their contracts expired and prices were either going to skyrocket or their farmers were going to sell the vineyards to the big producers.

So what's a young genius winemaker to do with vineyard prices in the Langhe going through the roof?

Go North.  

Go North to the Gattinara/Bramaterra area where land is cheap, and the terroir is incredible.

Today, I am incredibly excited to offer two brilliant wines of Davide Molinatti.  Davide is just a phenomenally nice, smart and humble guy who bought Roccia Rossa in 2010.  Heformerly worked in the vineyards and the cellar at the star of Lessona, Sella.  While Gattinara, Lessona and Carema have received decent recognition in the States, the other DOC/DOCGs in the area are less well known.  And Bramaterra will likely remain that way as there are only 30 hectares (8 wineries) in the DOC.

I love these wines.  Their weight is more like what the Langhe wines used to have 30 years ago before global warming as they are a bit further north (and the soil is so poor).  So they are concentrated but have less risk of being overblown and stewy (a lot of stewy Langhe wines did not make the cut for us).  The soils are brutal porphyric and volcanic soils (that picture on the right was taken in the vineyard and the grapes actually grow in soil like that).  Thegrapes have to struggle for survival and you can taste it in the wines.  The yields are crazy low (way lower than the 40-50 you see in Barolo/Barbaressco even at good estates) and theconcentration is incredible.

The first wine is the Roccia Rossa Bramaterra 2012 for $27.99 each on a 4 pack.  To give you an idea of what this wine is like, this wine has thesame balance and delicious cherry fruit of Produttori di Barbaresco but with absolutely mind boggling palate complexity.  Perhaps the craziest level of palate complexity of any under $30 wine I've had.  As soon as you sip it, there is just a BAM of bright cherry as soon as it hits your mouth.  Then after a second, you get rotating cascading swirls of spice and licorice. The palateimpact changes every 15 seconds. Incredible complexity.  There's stunning balancing acidity and juiciness. The internal aromatics are really good but will improve as the wine is still a bit young.  I'm talking floral aromas, intermingled with spice and licorice.  This is the kind of wine that you can really sit with for an evening and even with some stale toast, it's a satisfying meal.  The wine can be drunk now with a 30 minute decant but will improve over 2-3 years and drink for 10-20 years.  

Yields on this wine are crazy low at around 17 HL/HA which is insane for Piedmont.  The Bramaterra is 80% Nebbiolo, 15% Vespolina and 5% Croatina. All hand harvested.  Matured for 2 years in large oak barrels.  Only 13% alcohol so this is definitely a lighter, more elegant style wine (closer to Burgundy than most wines in the Langhe).  Only 300 cases were made. This was one of the great discoveries of  putting together the Italian portfolio and is a do not miss wine.

Please don't ignore the second wine.  It's fantastic and one of our best "entry level wines" (even though it's not entry level for most retailers who would charge 50% more for it).  It is from a DOC that is even less well known, and I'm thrilled to offer the Roccia Rossa Costa della Sessia "Galliano" 2013 for $19.99 a bottle on a 4 pack.  Amazing concentration and delicious cherry fruit but balanced with traditional Fass Selections acidity to produce that juiciness that I crave. After about 45 minutes, a wonderful richness kicks in with some nice additional complexity.  Spice, a hint of licorice.  This wine is absolutely delicious and really opens up after sitting for a bit. It should improve over 2-3 years and drink well for a decade.  Again, only 300 cases were made of this wine as well.

OK - the yields ... 20 hectoliters per hectare.  I'm not kidding.  In Burgundy, they would be 2-3 times that for a wine at this price point.  I have no clue how Davide can afford to make wines with these low yields at these prices.  I suppose that the run on vineyard land in Bramaterra has not yet begun.  The grapes are hand harvested and are 60% Nebbiolo, 25% Barbera and 15% Croatina.  The Nebbiolo is aged in old 2,500 liter barrels for 12 months and the Barbera and Croatina are both aged in used 225 liter barrels for 12 months.  This gives the wine the richness that you see after 45 minutes (you can't taste the wood).

Davide's winery is in Brusnengo, which is really small.  Like don't blink or you'll miss it small.  The town where he lives is even smaller.  The region was largely depopulated during industrialization.  There are only 8 winemakers in Bramaterra.  Davide's philosophy is the reasoned struggle approach that most of my French growers use.  Basically, he tries to do as little as possible in the vineyard but will intervene if his crop would otherwise be wiped out.  Davide is in a small group of young producers making stunning wine in this area.  He will be a big thing at some point. 

2012 Rocia Rossa Bramaterra - $29.99 ($111.96 4-pack) 

(VERY LIMITED)

2013 Rocia Rossa Costa della Sessia "Galliano" - $22.99 (79.96 4-pack) (LIMITED)