VALDISOLE

Giuseppe Amato is a Sommelier who started making wine for fun. He bought on Subito.it (the equivalent of Craigslist in the US) his first 0.5 ha because he wanted to follow every single step of the process himself.

One thing led to another and a few years later he is now one of the most interesting projects in the Roero area. Completely natural winemaking, unconventional grapes for the area like Riesling and Traminer alongside some classics like Nebbiolo and some rare local grapes like Malvasia Moscata.

Giuseppe never compromised, I met him at the very beginning of the journey and his wines were always compelling, different, unique. Some of the first batches had literally dirt on the bottle instead of a label (an idea Giuseppe luckily decided to discontinue), clear sign of a winemaker who doesn’t feel any sort of constraint.

Watch our video on Youtube

Our selection and three words from the winemaker:

• Utopia: visionary. Drink now
• Nostos: instinct. Drink now
• Simposio: convivial. Drink now

AURELIO SETTIMO

After Nadia Curto in May, we stay in La Morra but switch school. Aurelio Settimo is the Barolo you’d draw if someone asked for “traditional”: long macerations, no chasing of trends, and a cellar in a white house in Frazione Annunziata, just before the square with the former Benedictine abbey of San Martino di Marcenasco.

The story goes back to the late 1950s, when Aurelio’s father Domenico started selling some wine under his own name. When he passed away in 1962, Aurelio took over, extended the vineyards and the Aurelio Settimo label was born. Today it’s a small family estate: about 7 hectares, around 40,000 bottles a year, and only four DOC and DOCG reds: Barolo, the Barolo from the Rocche dell’Annunziata cru, Langhe Nebbiolo and Dolcetto d’Alba. The Rocche dell’Annunziata is one of the great crus of La Morra, facing south and south-west. Tiziana Settimo makes the wines today.

These are not wines that shout. These are also wines from La Morra who can trick you into thinking "this is the gentle side of the Barolo valley". Structure, tannins, shoulders. Big and classic, like Barolo used to be.

Our selection and three words from the winemaker:

• Barolo Rocche 2020: elegant, enveloping, botanica. Drink now - 2040
• Nebbiolo 2022: powerful, immediate, intriguing. Drink now - 2030
• Barolo 2018: fresh, full-bodied, floral. Drink now - 2035

FRATELLI CIGLIUTI

In 1964, when many farmers on these hills were leaving the land for jobs in town, Renato Cigliuti did the opposite. He committed to the family vineyard on the Serraboella hill in Neive, and he did something his neighbors considered madness: he dropped fruit in the vineyard to lower yields, in effect throwing money away. The same year he bottled his first 300 bottles of Barbaresco.

Renato comes from four generations of farmers, and he still thinks of himself first as a farmer. The family was among the first to put Serraboella on a label (1978), and today that hill is one of the great names of Neive. The estate is around 7.5 hectares, about 30,000 bottles a year, and for the Cigliutis 90% of winemaking happens in the vineyard. Claudia and Silvia, Renato’s daughters, now run the show, with Renato and his wife Dina still keeping an eye on things.

From the farming to the bottling, everything is artisanal and carried out with a “ fastidious attention to detail while respecting nature and the environment”. The winemaking is minimalistic and terroir-driver.

Cigliuti is the kind of producer collectors know and the general public somehow doesn’t. I have seen these bottles in NYC restaurants at skyrocketing prices so enjoy them and order some more.

Our selection and three words from the winemaker:

• Barbaresco Vie Erte: elegance, balance, authentic. Drink now - 2040
• Langhe Nebbiolo: finesse, floral, fresh. Drink now - 2030
• Barbera Serraboella: fruit, vibrant, youth. Drink now - 2030

FRATELLI ROSSO

Quagliano, Barbera, Neretta Cuneese, Chatus, Blancho and Slarina. How many of these have you had? Well, these are all native grapes from Piemonte.

This is not the Piemonte of the postcards. We’re above Busca and Costigliole Saluzzo, between 500 and 600 meters, on poor alpine soils of sand, schist and rock, with very little clay and almost no limestone. The estate is tiny, a bit more than a hectare in production with vines over 70 years old, farmed without herbicides and systemic products since 2021 and in organic conversion since 2023. The cellar is in the same place where their grandparents’ used to be.

Gabriele and Paolo are cousins, and Fratelli Rosso is the name of their grandfathers, Giuseppe and Giovanni, who opened a winery after the Second World War as a natural continuation of the osteria they ran in Tarantasca. When the Langhe growers started bottling their own wines in the 90s, the business slowed down, and it closed in 2006. In 2020 the cousins took the name back and started again.

“There’s no point chasing Nebbiolo,” they say. Quagliano is a fragile, thin-skinned variety afraid of rain, and making it dry can mean losing up to 20% of the crop.

Fratelli Rosso is a brave, exciting adventure we should all watch closely. The results are wines of tension, salinity and drinkability, with an elegant rusticity. Few bottles exist, and we’re happy to put some in your hands.

Our selection and three words from the winemaker:

• Effimero: fragrant, easy-to-drink, juicy. Drink now
• Sottosopra: crunchy, light, salty. Drink now
• In-quieto: layered, complex, tense . Drink now

LEGEND

DRINK NOW: Means drink within the next 3-4 years.

ALL DATES: Are just a reference point. Wine is not going to go bad, it’s just my personal favorite drinking window.