Alto Piemonte Is The Hot New Region in Italy and These Are 3 of the Most Elegant Wines Made

These Are 3 of the Best Nebbiolo-Based Wines for the Price in Italy
 - Prices Will Certainly Rise as the Region Gets More Attention
 - These All Have the Structure to Age
 - At These Prices, These Are Incredible Values from a Small, Small Producer

2009 Podere Ai Valloni Boca Vigna Cristiana
 - Amazing Nose of Roses and Cherries
 - Ripe 2009 Fruit - Big Cherries, Minerals, Blue Fruits
 - Great Complexity and Elegance

2007 Podere Ai Valloni Boca Vigna Cristiana
 - The Fassier of the 2 Wines
 - Stunning Nose - Dried Roses, Fresh Roses, Crazy Complexity
 - Dazzlingly Pure on the Palate: Red Cherries and Minerals
 - The Purity of a Much, Much More Expensive Wine

2017 Podere Ai Valloni Colline Novaresi "Gratus"
 - The Most Refined "Inexpensive" Italian Wine we Sell
 - Enormous Palate Impact: Fresh and Stunningly Juicy Fruit
 - So Harmonious. Gorgeous, Gorgeous Wine

My Billion Dollar Bet
If I had a billion dollars I'd make a huge bet. And no it wouldn't be shorting Herbalife. I'd take every

cent and invest it in Alto Piemonte. There is gold in them thar hills as the old expression goes. Alto Piemonte is a culture into its own and it's hard to not fall hopelessly in love with it. I did. It reminds of the relationship between the Northern Rhone (being Alto Piemonte) and Burgundy (being Barolo/Barbaresco). There is still a very distinct peasant culture in the Northern Rhone which gives it a charm and an accessibility while also walling itself off from the world. The wines of Alto Piemonte are also much less expensive at any quality level than those from the Langhe.  There is an effort to preserve and revive that is happening in both regions as a whole. Alto Piemonte and the Northern Rhone are mirror images of one another obviously with the distinct cultural inflections that makes them unique.

The reason I'd drop a billion on Alto Piemonte and use maybe a 300 million dollar chunk in Boca, is rather quite simple. 100 years ago Alto Piemonte and specifically Boca, which I'll micro focus on now, was a happening wine region. It had hundreds of hectares and many many growers. Then WWI and WWII happened and people needed steadier incomes and the risk and low reward of a life in agriculture was not a popular option in this area of Italy and many factories opened. Textiles were the name of the game in Boca and mostly everyone let their vineyards go and joined the textile industry. Boca is now 30 hectares and there are only 10 producers left. That is insane, insane, insane. Once you taste the wines, meet the people (we have the top 2 producers in Boca who could not be more different stylistically), walk the vineyards, you'll know there is something very special brewing in Boca. It's amazing. I was in Alba right before and no one has heard of Boca, even in Alba. It's 2 hours north and no one cares. You even get a bit of a snark from the locals when you mention you're going up north. A mixture of entitlement and apathy.

When walking the vineyards of Boca it's like nothing else I have ever experienced. The vineyards are literally in a jungle. At Podere Ai Valloni the estate is on top of a hill surrounded by their vineyards and jungle like brush and greens. I've enclosed two pictures to show how intermixed the jungle/forest areas are with the vineyards. That's where the billion comes in. Planting vineyards where forest is is not fun, nor cheap. It's labor intensive and so costly. But the terroir is so special. The whole area is protected by an amphitheatre of hills which keeps everything protected from the cold winds.

Volcanic Soils
If you go to Boca, and no one has talked about the big volcanic explosion 300 million years ago within the first 5 minutes, then you are in the wrong place. This explosion is what made Boca and Alto Piemonte what it is. The volcanic soils are unique and special and give Boca a unique minerality and earthiness unto itself. The vines dig deep into the Permian Rhyotilic lava which can be seen as red covered rocks in the vineyard. The Vigna Cristiana is the name of the vineyards of the Podere Ai Valloni and the wines which will be offered today. Let me tell you about the wines being offered today. Wines that comes from magical places can also, not all the time (not every vintage is ideal), but more often than not, make magical wines.

Podere Ai Valloni
There is something special about the Boca of Anna Sertorio at Podere Ai Valloni. After having enough of them and having other Alto Piemonte appellations I can say that Boca reminds me most of Chambolle-Musigny. They have an elegance and finesse plus and intoxicating aroma that is just fantastic. Combine that with the most unique earthy minerality I've found in Alto Piemonte, the incredible attention to detail and high level of winemaking you have perhaps the best values in a sea of values. Many of you have ordered the older Valloni's that will ship this Fall and for many of you that have been on the list for a long time remember the old wine offers do dry up when the old wines is gone. We are getting up to the end of it at Podere Ai Valloni. Remember all those Auslese and Spatlese Trockens from 1998/1995/1996 I sold from Müllen? That's long long gone. Well that same situation is happening at Podere Ai Valloni. I've got two wonderful vintages of the Vigna Cristiana Boca today. I adore both so so much and from two very different vintages.

The Wines
Up first is the 2009 Podere Ai Valloni Boca Vigna Cristiana for $34.99 a bottle on a 4-Pack. This needs a 2 hour decant as do all Valloni wines. Minimum. These are very earthy wines and are not pop and pour. The wait is worth it.  The thing about the wines of Podere Ai Valloni is the stunning refinement. Every single wine has it. The 2009 Boca has it in spades. What a wine. The nose is very intense roses combined with massive big cherries, minerals and cooling blue fruits. Sappy almost Burgundian nose. It is so, so floral and the fruit is especially pungent in 2009. There is also a very specific type of minerality that is due to the volcanic soils but also the uniqueness of the Vigna Cristiana. Layered and so aromatic. I kept smelling and smelling which helps as I have a huge nose. It's so delicate yet nuanced and as I said before, layered. It is stunning and a nose one can delight in all evening. I could smell it all night and almost did. You won't believe it. The palate has that awesome 2009 ripeness and the most elegant and refined tannins. The Valloni Bocas manage to have an amazing balance of ripe fruit and ripe tannins. In all the wines. You can't believe these tannins. So soft, so juicy, so ripe, so sensual. You swish so hard in your mouth and there are no hard edges. It's just magic. There is an amazing level of complex fruit that is so dense and so juicy with absolutely no hard edges. Amazingly complex crescendo of a finish that has all the freshness. All of it. So so clean. Lovely poignant and high acidity that makes the finish last for days. The refined and elegant tannins just stay with you. An amazing achievement. Do not miss this wine. The blend is 70% Nebbiolo, 20% Vespolina and 10% Uva Rara. Barely anybody makes 100% Nebbiolo up here as it is cooler here than down South in the Langhe and as a result, pure Nebbiolo has too high acidity and can be harsh. Vespolina and Uva Rara are darker grapes with lower acidity that balance the Nebbiolo. It's the perfect formula as these grapes are indigenous and awesome. They add juiciness and color. Nebbiolo provides the structure, acid and aromas. Although Vespolina has some shows aromas as well. Floral but in a different way than Nebbiolo.

Best up is the brilliant 2007 Podere Ai Valloni Vigna Cristiana for the wacky price of $32.99 a bottle. I know I know. Just nuts.  I've got less of this than the 2009 as Anna told me she is keeping 100 bottles for herself as this has much more life ahead of it. I love this wine and of the two this is the Fassier of the two. The wine is so so good and likely needs three hours of air versus the normal two. But man oh man is this a beauty.

The nose is stunning. It's more rocky than the 2009 and has insane amounts of vivid red licorice. It just jumps out at you. After some time there are beguiling roses. Dried roses and fresh roses blended together as it's at that point where it is just entering its window but not quite there yet. Dark cherries and violets abound. Even a fascinating Balsamic note develops after air. Every Boca I've ever had from here has something special and unique to say. The nose is multi-dimensional but not in a more obvious way like the 09 is but more in a geeky Fassy way. Each old set I've sold I've sold a more classic ripe one (and a more geeky underdog Fassy one like in the 97/94 offer and the 90/91 offer. The 2007 continues in that tradition but that is vastly underselling it as I've had 2007 Le Piane Boca (who many people this is the best, not me) which critics rave about and this wine is much, much better and more interesting. Oh, and cheaper. The 2007 Le Piane is between $50-and $60. Today's wine is $32.99 and it is DIRECT FROM THE ESTATE.

The palate. Let's not forget about the palate. It is so so complex. That's the first word I'd use. Then it's massively juicy with an incredible fruit soak. It's exceptionally balanced and so so refined and this is Valloni Boca which eventually will be shorthand for refinement once you've all had as much as I've had of Valloni. It's dazzlingly pure. Like the purity of a much much more expensive wine. So juicy with vivid cherry fruit that is mid season to the max and the finish is crashing waves of freshness and that unique Vigna Cristiana volcanic minerality. It's so elegant and again you can swish so hard and the wine has no hard edges and that ripe tannin and red cherry fruit soak assault your palate after wonderful mid palate finesse. The finish has terrific acidity, complexity and freshness. Climbs to your palate. Gorgeous tannins which shows this has many more years ahead of it. Stunning wine. One of the best values I'll ever sell. 

Up next, and please don't pass this wine by because of all the copy on the Boca, is the 2017 Podere Ai Valloni Colline Novaresi "Gratus" which can be had for $22.99 on a 4-Pack. Had one of my favorite and most respected clients email me the 2016 blew his mind. This guy buys expensive wine and inexpensive wine and all in between. This wine is the most refined "inexpensive" Italian wine we sell. It really is almost equal to the Bocas but in a different way as inexpensive Italian wine is not supposed to be this high quality and refined. The 2017 Gratus is just stunning. Best one yet. I cannot emphasize how amazing a wine this is for the money. Just a gorgeous nose of the classic Boca cooling blue fruits, some vivid spices, and tons of minerality.  Juicy, terrific and brilliant fruit with impressive clarity and purity. Again , this wine has amazingly refined tannins you find in wines 3-4-5 times the price. It's magic is all I can think of. The fruit is so big, so juicy and so dense, that this wine has an enormous palate impact of freshness and stunningly juicy fruit. Terrific purity. Very harmonious. Gorgeous, gorgeous wine. This may be our best inexpensive Italian wine. So special!   The 2017 vintage in Piedmont is shockingly great and the smaller wines are coming out now. Small is a bad word but it's all I got. The 2017 Gratus is a blend of 85% Nebbiolo and 15% Uva Rara.


Remember all the wines at Podere Ai Valloni have this sense of refinement in them that to be honest I've only encountered at the highest levels in Italy. Do not sleep on this estate! It's all magic. I swear. I walked out of my appointment 4 hours later shaking my head. Anna Sertorio, the owner has something so special here. She is as passionate and charming as anyone I've ever met. She is opinionated just like me, so we got along naturally but also an encyclopedia of the history of Boca. What she has done to put this region back on the map is nothing short of incredible.

2009 Podere Ai Valloni Boca "Vigna Cristiana" - $36.99 

($139.96 4-pack) (LIMITED)

2007 Podere Ai Valloni Boca "Vigna Cristiana" - $34.99

 ($131.96 4-pack) (VERY LIMITED)

2017 Podere Ai Valloni Colline Novaresi "Gratus" - $24.99

 ($91.96 4-pack) (LIMITED)