The Alto-Piemonte, where steep foothills rise into the Alps near Italy’s northwestern border with Switzerland, is near and dear to our hearts here at SommSelect. We love the mostly Nebbiolo based wines from this region, and so do most of you. Yet somehow we’ve never had the pleasure of offering the iconic wines of the Vallana estate. Well, I’m going to change that today! And there’s no better introduction to this venerable address, steeped in history, than today’s Colline Novaresi Spanna. Don’t worry, we’ll get into a more detailed description what that name means below, but for now the important thing is that “Spanna” is the local dialect for Nebbiolo, and this old-school beauty is down right dripping with all of the aromatic, mineral-laced, mountain Nebbiolo goodness that anyone could ask for. At five years old it’s in peak drinking form, and virtually guaranteed to knock your socks off–especially when you see the price!
To say that the estate of Antonio Vallana e Figlio has a long history in their neck of the Alto Piemonte region is a bit of an understatement. It was back in the late 1700s that an ancestor named Gaetano Perrucconi first purchased some vines in the area of Boca. He was already employed by the local parish as a sort of wine merchant and negociant, which allowed him time to develop a taste for the best wines and vineyards. The small estate was then passed to his nephew Bernardo who expanded the land holdings and began to track the aging potential of Spanna (aka Nebbiolo) after it had been bottled and corked. It turned out that the wines could age quite well! But it was Bernardo’s son Antonio, and his grandson Bernardo Jr., who really put this estate on the map. They were among the first to export their wine to Switzerland and Germany, markets that became crucial to the region in the post war era. Bernardo Jr. was a legendary winemaker in his own right, whose wines from the 1950s and ‘60s go toe to toe with the greatest bottles of Barolo or Barbaresco from that same time period (I can attest to this, having had the fortune of drinking a few of these old Spanna treasures!).
Bernardo passed along the estate to his daughter Giuseppina and her husband Guy Fogarty in 1980. Despite a market that was increasingly moving toward powerful, modern, and heavily oaked wines the Vallana team never deviated from the old-school traditions and classicism that made them successful. Rather than try to cash in on a trend, they stuck to their standards and now that the sixth generation is at the helm–Giuseppina and Guy’s children Francis and Marina–they are finally once again being widely recognized as a top producer of traditional Alto-Piemonte wines.
The Colline Novaresi region lies to the west of the Sesia river, essentially downslope a bit from the more famous appellations of Ghemme, Boca, and Gattinara that are on the hills east of the Sesia. The entire region lies in a caldera from a super volcano that last erupted some 280 million years ago–an event that continues to impact the soils and geology here to this day. The Novaresi vineyards sit on soils that are slightly less acidic than their eastern neighbors, which makes these wines a bit more fruit forward and enjoyable with only a little bit of age. That means that today’s Spanna, from the generationally great 2019 vintage, is already hitting its prime drinking window at age five. That said, and again as the wines of Bernardo Jr. can attest to, this wine in this vintage has a very long life ahead of it.
I would definitely recommend a good 30 plus minute decant to make sure that full aromatic intensity is on full display, and I also like to serve Alto-Piemonte Nebbiolo a touch cooler than its Langhe siblings, at around 55-60 degrees. Then you will revel in a classic nose of sweet cherries, crushed strawberries, fresh cut roses, rosewater, fennel, blood orange zest, mountain thyme, and earthy, rocky minerals. The medium bodied palate is supple, but not at all heavy, and it leans on acid more than tannin. The alcohol is also a step down from the Barolo and Barbaresco wines to the south, and overall this contributes to a fresher, brighter take on Nebbiolo. It’s a natural pairing for hearty, mountain dishes like polenta with braised meats or mushrooms, but it can also go perfectly well with a simple roast chicken or (dare we say it too early) a nice big turkey. And given the amazingly fair price you should definitely stock up for any and all future holiday meals!
