Who Are Your Favorite N. Piedmont Producers

I’ve had a decent size sampling of 50’s and 60’s Spanna, Gattinara, and Carema from various producers and have found across the board that these wines are long lived, Burgundian, and great values to boot. I’ve wanted to stock up on some producers who are currently making wines that fit the bill of what I’ve experienced from the region previously. Any favorites or suggestions?

I’m highly interested in this as well, and curious to see what people say. I’ve tried a few producers from the Alto Piemonte and generally find them very good quality wines at good prices, sometimes in a slightly more elegant style (whether because of the northern climate or the vespolina blend I don’t know). But I’m still looking for the producer who competes with the best of Barolo/Barbaresco at the highest levels regardless of price.

Not the way to look at this. It’s not an apple-to-apple comparison, as the wine profile is quite different and in many Alto Piemont districts, they use varying amounts of non-nebbiolo grapes so even the flavors would be askew. Remember, these are lighter, higher acid, wines that won’t give you the same ‘kick’ as B&B will. I think the best way is to explore…they really aren’t that expensive and pick a DOC/DOCG that is on the shelf from Gattinara, Ghemme, Boca, Valtellina, Fara, Donnas, etc.

Completely fair, but I also think that with climate change in the not too distant future, the Alto Piemonte may taste more like Barolo/Barbaresco did 5-10 years ago than Barolo/Barbaresco does. So I’m trying to look ahead and find some replacements, if they exist, especially since I’m already priced out of the top 1-2 tiers of Barolo.

My personal list:
Antoniolo (Gattinara)
Proprieta Sperino (Lessona) Colombera & Garella (Ghemme, Lessona) Le Piane (Boca) I have also had good bottles from Miru, a small producer in Ghemme.

In addition:

Vallana for Gattinara, Spanna, Boca.

For Carema, we like Ferrando, both white and black label.

Clerico Massimo from Lessona. I think is a great value and exceptionally quality. I was able to pick up their 2010 riserva for about $50.

I think you could say that competing doesn’t necessarily mean replacing, since no two wine regions will ever give identical wines even with the same grape composition and winemaking style, but maybe an alternative that has the capability of offering something of (debatably) similar drinking pleasure and quality without being so expensive (like Oregon pinot/chard versus Burgundy, or Napa originally versus Bordeaux, though that’s obviously different now). that said, alto piemonte looks like it has such a rich history of wine making and quality that you’re right that the comparisons are very different, and it should stand on its own rather than as an up and coming Piedmont ringer.

Other producers I’ve seen mentioned recently are ArPePe (Jim Anderson and I think Jim Cowan had some interesting tasting notes on these in the past), and Monsecco in Gatinara.

Eric Asimov had a great overview of this a few years ago, as well:

Cantalupo

Big fan of Ferrando and Sperino already as well as Cantina dei Produttori. Need to try Vallana and others listed here as well. I see a N. Piedmont offline brewing here…

Sarah, I’m sure you’ve also had Ferrando’s passito, but if you haven’t I can highly recommend it as lovely dessert wine.

[cheers.gif] Loving the mention of Mirù, a producer we’ve visited twice and they’ve been incredibly hospitable, even hosting us literally as grapes were coming in from the harvest. They are very much a family setup and if you like such places in comparison to more slick/commercial wineries then there is much to appreciate. Better than Cantalupo? Probably not. However they are priced very fairly and they are good wines, with a special shout out to the Vespolina (under a Colline Novaresi label) which has performed brilliantly in the cellar (6-10 years window, but could conceivably go longer). Ghemme, a single vineyard “Cavenago” Ghemme Riserva from the vineyards surrounding the excellent agritursmo 'Il Cavenago), plus other wines. I’d love it if just a single person here tried their wines off the back of this thread.

The region is definitely re-emerging, and there is plenty of change, so I’d echo the recommendation to taste, explore and follow what hits the spot for you (if anything, the region won’t appeal to everyone).

Great but pricey producer, but now we are getting into Lombardia as an alternative to Alto Piemonte…

In Lombardia we have also enjoyed Conti Sertoli, especially the sforzato (made with dried grapes, sort of Amarone-to-Valpolicella except vinified to dryness).

In Alto Piemonte, as others have said: Ferrando, Antoniolo, Vallana,

also Proprieta Sperino, Travaglini (espite being a relaively large producer)

fair point, I spoke from a place of ignorance :slight_smile: and conflated two very different areas. thanks for the correction – Lombardia is distinct from N Piedmont, you’re right. Would love to learn more about the distinctions between these areas.

Thanks, I haven’t had it. We almost never drink sweet wines, despite having a large selection in the cellar, but you never know when the knowledge will come in handy!

I love arpepe, especially the sassellas. I’ve tried some other valtellina which have been underwhelming.

More love for Arpepe here. Although I suppose they’re not strictly N. Piedmont (or are they?), their wines are very relevant to your inquiry. They make a number of wines that generally drink well young and age nicely. Unsurprisingly, they’re brilliant with Italian food. My local Italian joint always has one or more Arpepe wines on the list, and I’ve probably gone ordered a few cases’ worth over the years.

As far as Proprieta Sperino, though the Uvaggio bottling is decent, it doesn’t have nearly the cohesion or depth of the Lessona bottling, so I’d stick to the latter despite the significant price premium. The '11 Lessona needed a few more years of age last time I had it in Winter 2017, but the '09 Lessona I had a few months ago is ready to rock. Plan to hold the '10 for 2-3 years at least, but I suspect it could be drunk today with some air.

They are in Valtellina, Lombardy, so not North Piedmont.
But if one broadens the question then, yes, absolutely!

They also have two different bottlings of their Ghemme, distinguished just by the color of “Ghemme” on the label, red or black. The difference is the Nebbiolo clone.
By the way their Ghemme ages beautifully: I have had 2004 and 2006 recently and they were still very young.