At one time, a century ago, the alto Piemonte was blanketed with vineyards and was Piedmont’s commercial winemaking epicenter; a combination of phylloxera; the exodus of workers to industrial jobs in Turin and Milan; and two World Wars all but wiped it out. Today, the entirety of the Gattinara DOCG spans only 100 hectares, with stalwarts like Antoniolo not only preserving the region’s history but making age-worthy, evocative wines. For much of its modern history, the estate and its 14 hectares of vineyards were overseen by the formidable Rosanna Antoniolo, who originally took the reins from her father, Mario, in the early 1970s. She was the first to vinify single-vineyard expressions of Gattinara, from “cru” sites such as “San Francesco” and “Osso San Grato,” both of which supply some of the fruit used in this flagship DOCG bottling. These days, Rosanna’s children, Lorella and Alberto, run the estate according to the same traditional principles: farming is organic, and the wines are fermented on ambient yeasts in cement vats. Aging takes place almost exclusively in large, used oak botti.

Gattinara is distinguished by its volcanic soil, which is mixed with some glacial moraine and contains a high percentage of iron, giving it a reddish hue. The region’s reds undergo a similar aging regimen to that of Barolo—35 months minimum, compared to 38 for Barolo, with Gattinara spending a minimum of 24 of those months in wood barrels compared to 18 for Barolo. Gattinara, however, is not required to be 100% Nebbiolo, but must contain a minimum of 90%. Antoniolo’s is 100% Nebbiolo from 45+-year-old vines, aged 30 months in large barrels and 12 months in bottle before release.

The soil composition and northerly positioning of Gattinara—Alpine breezes make for dramatic diurnal temperature swings—are, as noted above, factors that contribute to a generally more delicate take on Nebbiolo in comparison to Barolo/Barbaresco. What I’d add about Antoniolo is this: Many traditionally styled Gattinara wines skew a little ‘hard’ and thin; Antoniolo has always been among the most adept at coaxing fruit and florals from their Nebbiolo while maintaining its firm structure, minerality, and fresh acidity. In the glass, this 2012 is textbook alto Piemonte in appearance, with a light, reflective garnet core moving to orange at the rim. The aromas leap from the glass and unfold in layers with time open: wild strawberry, cranberry, dried cherry, blood orange, rose petals, tea leaves, underbrush, and tobacco. Medium-bodied and firmly structured, it needs 45 minutes in a decanter to really show its stuff right now; if you were tasting it blind you could be fooled into think you were sipping a village-level Gevrey-Chambertin, and I suspect 3-5 years in the cellar will do wonders for this wine. Serve it at 60-65 degrees in Burgundy stems and don’t worry if an open bottle lingers until day two or even day three—it will only get better! As for food, this wine is aching for something woodsy and meaty: the attached recipe will do nicely, meeting its bright, nervy foil in the wine. Enjoy!