The Italian region of Piedmont is a wine nation unto itself. Piedmont does everything well—red, white, sparkling, sweet, aromatized…you name it. But for all the great wines to be had there, the ones that attract droves of journalists, collectors, and sommeliers from all around the world are red wines from the Nebbiolo grape. And lately, those droves have descended on the region’s more northerly Nebbiolo-growing regions, including a speck of an appellation known as Bramaterra.
Today’s wine is exactly the kind of complex, finessed, age-worthy red that has fueled the fire: Seemingly out of nowhere, Azienda Agricola Noah burst onto the Alto Piemonte (“upper Piedmont”) wine scene, resurrected some heritage vineyards in Bramaterra and became a resonant new voice in a region with very few commercial wineries. Given the minuscule size of Noah’s production, not to mention the significant amount of bottle age on offer for this price, I couldn’t believe we got another shot at this 2012. When we offered some last year, it was singing; a year later, it’s dancing, too, and it’s going to keep getting better. If we offered a 2012 Barbaresco of this quality at this price, it would disappear in an instant—and as a Barbaresco fanatic myself, I don’t hesitate to put this Bramaterra in that class. Truly, the quality-price ratio of this wine is uncharted; it should be hoarded greedily and enjoyed happily (even smugly) over the next decade.
[NOTE: This wine is only available as a pre-offer and will be arriving at our warehouse in two weeks' time.]
Although the Alto Piemonte was Piedmont’s commercial winemaking epicenter a century ago, it was largely abandoned after the two World Wars, as the region industrialized and agriculture waned. Many of the historic appellations of the region—not just Bramaterra but Lessona, Gattinara, Ghemme, and others—shrunk to near-extinction. In Bramaterra, for example, there aren’t more than 30 hectares of vines left in the entire appellation, but Noah’s proprietors, Andrea Mosca and Giovanna Pepe Diaz, managed to obtain about five of those precious hectares to establish their label (which is named for their son).
Based in the village of Brusnengo, Noah is now one of the small handful of commercial labels in Bramaterra, which neighbors Gattinara and is one of the lesser-known of the DOC zones clustered in Piedmont’s Sesia River Valley. The Sesia flows down from Monte Rosa and eventually into the Pò south of Novara, and while there are some ‘alluvial’ soils in the region it is ultimately an amalgam of glacial, volcanic, and river-borne soil types. Bramaterra’s soils are of volcanic origin and contain a significant amount of porphyry—volcanic rock containing lots of minerals such as feldspar and quartz. Bramaterra is also unlike Barolo and Barbaresco in that the appellation laws allow for the inclusion of other grape varieties besides Nebbiolo—in this case the local varieties Croatina, Uva Rara, and Vespolina, which lend a little dark-fruited muscle to an otherwise high-toned, ethereal wine.
The Noah estate was first founded in 2010, and its owners were fortunate to obtain some mature vineyards in key villages within the zone. Today’s wine, just their second release, was sourced from about 2.5 hectares across four parcels in Brusnengo, where average vine age hovers around 25 years. It’s a blend of 80% Nebbiolo, 10% Croatina, and 5% each Uva Rara and Vespolina fermented in large wooden vats and aged in 27-hectoliter oak barrels for 12 months before bottling.
Having now enjoyed further bottle age, this 2012 is a complex tangle of fruit, earth, and floral aromas, beautifully capturing the volcanic spice and Alpine-wildflower lilt of Bramaterra Nebbiolo. In the glass, it’s a medium ruby with garnet and orange reflections, with perfumed aromas of red and black cherry, currant, cranberry, and red apple share. Then there’s a wave of earthy savor: forest floor, tobacco, leather, ash, and black tea. It is approaching medium-plus in body, with the firm structure and bright acidity Nebbiolo is known for, though the a.b.v. is more moderate than most Barolo/Barbaresco. It has the fine-grained, upright bearing of a cool-climate red and benefits greatly from a decanting: Give it 30-45 minutes of air before serving it at 60-65 degrees in Burgundy stems, and know that any bottles you cellar will only improve. It will make it to its 10th birthday and likely well beyond that, providing an evocative, savory/smoky complement to the kinds of woodsy dishes Piedmont is known for. If you’re feeling like tackling something ambitious, check out the attached recipe from Chef/Legend Emeril Lagasse. This will be a combination for the ages. Enjoy!
