- Poor Volcanic Soils
- Cooler Climate
- The Next Really Important Wine Region
Podere Ai Valloni Has Been Making Perhaps the Most Elegant Wines in Alto Piemonte for Decades
- So, So, So Pretty, Complex and Delicate
- Some of the Most Elegant Nebbiolos in Italy, Bar None
2012 Podere Ai Valloni Boca Vigna Cristiana
- Nose: Very Intense Roses - Dried and Fresh - Amazing
- "The aromatics alone are beguiling" Galloni
- Almost Burgundian Stylistically
- Mineral, Earth, Tar
- Palate: Complex Fruit, So Elegant
- Cherries, Cherry Flowers, Mineral
- Delicate, Yet Nuanced
- 94 Points VINOUS, Antonio Galloni (2010)
2018 Podere Ai Valloni "Sass Russ" Colline Novaresi
- Nose: Deep Damson, Mid Cherry Core, Hints of Licorice and Anise
- Palate : Juicy, Dark Cherry and Sour Cherry Fruit
- Wonderful Stylishness for a $17.99 Wine (Case Pricing!)
I don't know how many times I've written about an Alto Piemonte producer and sold it all to you, and you love it and then the day comes where they got great reviews and scores and become anointed as they say. That day is here for the first Alto Piemonte producer that we sold. The brilliant Podere Ai Valloni was anointed by Antonio Galloni with terrific reviews and great scores. It could not have happened to a better person in Anna Sertorio, who is just a gem of a human being who has worked so hard to bring that estate to the top echelon of producers in Boca and in Piedmont. They as old school as it gets and man are the wines incredible. Since 2010 Anna has been on a ridiculous streak. The 2010 and 2011 are brilliant and now we have the 2012 Podere Ai Valloni Boca for $47.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. I tasted the 2012 and it is a clone of the 2010. It is a genius wine of the highest degree. Antonio Galloni gave the 2010 94 pts.
Nebbiolo, for me, is a grape that makes wines of beauty. Of nuance. It is called the pinot noir of Italy, for a reason. And there is a reason why the big boys in the Langhe are buying wineries in Alto Pimenote. The volcanic soils (see below) allow for the creation of some of the most elegant nebbiolos in Italy, bar none.
Langhe Vs Alto Piemonte?
I was speaking to a friend who was one of the most respected sommeliers in NYC a few days ago and he
told me that he absolutely has has elite wines from Alto Piemonte that easily compete with and sometimes surpass the Langhe. To get a top wine in the Alto Piemonte, like today's wine for under $50 is like getting Conterno Barolo "Cascina Francia" for $50 in 1996. He is 100% correct. It's not if Boca and the rest of Alto Piemonte go crazy in pricing, it's when. Alto Piemonte will be Burgundified sooner rather than later and you've got to get it on the ground floor. The Boca Vigna Cristiana is easily a 1st Growth of Alto Piemonte.
told me that he absolutely has has elite wines from Alto Piemonte that easily compete with and sometimes surpass the Langhe. To get a top wine in the Alto Piemonte, like today's wine for under $50 is like getting Conterno Barolo "Cascina Francia" for $50 in 1996. He is 100% correct. It's not if Boca and the rest of Alto Piemonte go crazy in pricing, it's when. Alto Piemonte will be Burgundified sooner rather than later and you've got to get it on the ground floor. The Boca Vigna Cristiana is easily a 1st Growth of Alto Piemonte.
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 intoxicating aromatics that are 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. The thing about the wines of Podere Ai Valloni is the stunning refinement.
The Wines
Today's first wine needs a 2-3 hour decant as do all Valloni wines no matter what age. Minimum. These are very earthy wines and are not pop and pour. The wait is worth it. Every single wine has it. The 2012 Podere Ai Valloni Boca Vigna Cristiana ($47.99 each on a 4 pack) has it in spades. What a wine.
The nose is very intense roses combined with stunning cherries, minerals and cooling blue fruits. Sappy almost Burgundian nose. It is so, so floral and the fruit is especially pungent in 2012. Mushroom, tar, roses, cherry fruit, mineral and so so aromatic. Really gets in the deep nostril areas. There is also a very specific type of minerality that is due to the volcanic soils but also the uniqueness of the Vigna Cristina. 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 awesome 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. Early season but rounded cherry fruit with cherry flowers and some pine. Just a hint of cherry liquor rounds it out. Terrific brightness.
Amazingly complex crescendo of a finish that has all the freshness. All of it. So so clean. The refined and elegant tannins just stay with you. Juicy and so so complex with wonderful purity and big tannins.
Finish is a hint of licorice and a swarm of cherries. Lovely poignant and high acidity that makes the finish last for day.
"The 2010 Boca Vigna Cristiana shows all of the complexity and subtlety of a wine that spent three years in cask. The aromatics alone are beguiling. An exotic mix of sweet pipe tobacco, mint, dried flowers, spice and cedar lifts effortlessly from the glass. Medium in body, with striking energy and verve, the 2010 is a fabulous example of the appellation, with tons of pungent, savory character to match its quirky personality. Drink it over the next 7-10 years. The blend is 70% Nebbiolo, 20% Vespolina and 10% Uva Rara." - 94 PTS, VINOUS, Antonio Galloni (2010)
Up next I've got a wine which was too good not to sell. Their entry level Colline Novarese is superb in 2018. It's a fresh and juicy wine but it also has the subsequent structure of Nebbiolo from Alto Piemonte. The 2018 Podere Ai Valloni "Sass Russ" Colline Novaresi for $19.99 a bottle on a 4-pack and $17.99 a bottle on a 12 bottle case is a stunner.
The nose has a deep damson mid cherry core with hints of licorice and anise. On day 2 the nose is much more focused with stunning levels of spice and more focused sour cherry and deep cherry fruit that is vivid as can be. It's rustic but has that utterly charming rustic Nebbiolo charm that is like high end rustic.
Big juicy wine with big tannins but with stylishness that is wonderful for a wine of this price. It's pure, deep and refined with terrific vivid dark and sour cherry fruit on the palate. Savory and mineral mixed in add to the allure. Great acidity but not overly aggressive. Very harmonious. The Nebbiolo gives the structure and body to this wine while the Uva Rara gives the color. Ripe tannins suggest this can be a short term ager. This was a wine that also, inexplicably, was significantly deeper, richer, riper and more harmonious on day 2. On day 1 it took an hour to open up as the Blend being 50% Nebbiolo and 50% Uva Rara is a precocious one and needs time to air out, but for different reasons than the Bocas. This needs air for the blend to sort itself out and also as a function of youth.
This gets 6 months stainlesss steel and then some time in old barrels. It has incredible energy, fruit and spice. It only gets 6 months in the stainless steel but gets refined with time in the bottle.
"The 2017 Sass Russ is a blend of equal parts Nebbiolo and Uva Rara done in stainless steel. Succulent red raspberry, strawberry and high-toned floral notes give the 2017 tons of immediacy and appeal. Silky, open-knit and wonderfully inviting, the Sass Russ is a fabulous entry-level offering from Podere ai Valloni." 91 Points, VINOUS, Antonio Galloni
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.
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.
2012 Podere Ai Valloni Boca "Vigna Cristiana" - $49.99
($191.96 4-Pack)
2018 Podere Ai Valloni Colline Novarese "Sass Russ" - $21.99
($79.96 4-Pack, $215.88 12 Bottle Case {$17.99!})
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