An evening in Boston with the wines of Oltrepo Pavese

Before the end of the year I wanted to highlight the Lombardy wine region and share a wine dinner I attended a couple months back in Boston sponsored by the Oltrepo Pavese Consorzio and wine friend Susannah of Vigneto Communications.  You may remember me highlighting some wines from the Oltrepo in Lombardy awhile back, which I will also rehighlight at the bottom of this article.  It was a splendid evening in the North End of Boston, the Italian section of Boston, at Forcella with great food and wine pairings, great conversation and a reminder of interesting and diverse this region really is.

Susannah (Vigneto Communicatiaons), myself, Carlo (Consorzio), David (Cooking Chat) and Alison (Artisan Wine Group)

The Oltrepo Pavese, pronounced ol-tray-po pah-vay-say, sits in the southern part of the Lombardy about 25 miles outside of Milan. It’s uniquely shaped within Lombardy looking like a cluster of grapes.  The vineyards cover 32,000 acres across 7 denominations with the flagship DOCG, and only DOCG, being the Oltrepo Pavese Metodo Classico Pinot Nero DOCG.   The Oltrepo receives a Mediterranean climate from the nearby influence of the Ligurian Sea and has more of a continental climate with the Po Valley.  Due to these factors, and others, there is a large diversity in the styles of wines produced in the Oltrepo.

Whether you have heard of the Oltrepo or not you may be surprised to learn that this wine area actually accounts for 65% of the wine production within Lombardy.  So much of the Oltrepo has changed over the years.  In 1884 the Oltrepo had 224 native vines with 59 grapes.  Today this area has 10 native vines with a much more limited amount of grapes.  It’s primary grapes grown and what it is known for are Barbara, Riseling, Croatina and especially Pinot Nero.  The Oltrepo Pavese is actually 3^rd in the world, besides Champagne and Burgundy France, for the production of their Pinot Noir.  Other grapes also produced within the Oltrepo Pavese include Uva Rara, Pinot Bianco, Cortese Bianco, Vespolina, Moscato, Pinot Grigio, Malvasia and Mueller Thurgau.

There are 4 valleys in the Oltrepo from west to east including Valle Straffora, Valle Coppa, Valle Scuropasso and Valle Versa.  Pinot Nero is frequently grown in the Valle Scuropasso.  Barbera you will find mostly within Valle Straffora and Valle Coppa.  Riesling does well in the calcareous soils of Valle Coppa.  Croatina is found in the central valleys eastward. 

We opened the evening with the lovely Ca’ di Frara T4 Brut Nature.  The 2022 Bruno Verdi Pinot Grigio was surprising as I never would’ve pinned that wine if tasted blind, although I’m far from an expert.  The texture and fruit profile in the wine reminded me of a Riesling.

Although I didn’t take specific notes on these wines during my dinner with the Consorzio I have to say that some of the pairings that we had complemented one another very well.  The star pairing was the La Travaglina Rugiade Oltrepo Pavese Riesling DOC paired with a cacio e pepe dish.  

Also, the Castello di Luzzano Sommossa Bonarda Frizzante with the pasta Bolognese surprisingly paired nicely with a slight frizzante.

Have you enjoyed wines from the Oltrepo?

Here are some of my previous articles on other wines of the Oltrepo Pavese.

•  Interesting Diversity in the Oltrepo Pavese
  

You can find Oltrepo Pavese wines at Wine.com. 

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*I may receive commissions if any wines are purchased directly from the above site to support the operations of Vino Travels.  

 

Sparkling Wines from the Alta Langa with Borgo Maragliano

After a couple week hiatus due to wonderful family vacation on a Disney cruise of the western Caribbean, I'm ready to share a recent tasting I had a couple months back including sparkling wines from Borgo Maragliano.  This winery is located in the sparkling wine area of ​​​​Piedmont in northwestern Italy known as the Alta Langa.  They are based in Loazzolo, close to Asti.  We tasted through 6 sparkling wines  mostly based on Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and one from the Riesling grape.  Let's explore!

The winery – Borgo Maragliano

The husband and wife owners, Carlo and Silvia Galliano, run Borgo Maragliano along with 2 of their 3 sons.   Carlo is also the winemaker and his wife handles the hospitality portion of their business.  They own about 108 acres in the Alta Langa, which is close to the seaside and therefore has the Ligurian Sea influence and winds over their vineyards.  The winery is situated at about 1,475 feet on steep Langhe hills with the vineyards at about 2,000 feet above sea level.  Their focus is on 4 grapes in particular, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling and Moscato.  The Moscato grape Carlo shared is the king grape of this particular area in the Alta Langa.  

Galliano family

The Alta Langa is an area of ​​southern Piedmont known for producing sparkling wines made in the traditional method style, known as the traditional method, with the second fermentation taking place in the bottle.  This is the way in which Borgo Maragliano produces their wines.  Canelli, a municipality in the Asti province of Piedmont, was the first in Italy to use this popular methodology and experiment with it.  Specifically the producers, Carlo Gancia and Conterno, were influential in the beginnings of using the classic style method. 

Carlo explained how they use selected yeasts from France and  use organic practices in their vineyards.  Their soil is meager and poor that gives great acidity to their wines allowing them to stay fresh and be ageworthy.  He discussed what he calls the “pedoclima” as a major factor in the influences of their wines.  This pedoclima is a combination of their altitude, soils and climate.  They have large diurnal temperature swings of 23-24 degrees.

The wines

I'll share the wines I tasted in order of my personal preference.  Most of these wines are named after members of the family.  I didn't find the bubbles to be too bright and bubbly, which for me was great since I'm not a huge sparkling wine fan. 

The 2018 Borgo Maragliano Dogma Blanc de Noirs Bruit Nature Millesime is made from 100% Pinot Noir.  The wine matured for 48 months on the yeast.  They explained this vineyard as a difficult one and Carlo chose the name “dogma” as a strong word to represent the passion and determination to make these wines.  Aromas of butter and vanilla along with some stone fruit.  This wine was rounder on the palate and fuller bodied than the others with a touch of salinity on the finish. SRP $72

The 2018 Borgo Maragliano Giuseppe Galliano Brut Nature Millesime was the first sparkling wine they made in 1987 that is dedicated to Carlo's father.  They started making 1,400 bottles with the 1^st vintage and today make about 8,000-9,000 bottles.  Made from 80% Pinot Noir for body and 20% Chardonnay for elegance from 35 year old vines.  This wine spends 4 years in the bottle and has 0% sugar.  Yeasty aromas with a slight toastiness.  It's dry on the palate with lemon pith and salinity on the finish. SRP $55

The 2019 Borgo Maragliano Giovanni Galliano Brut Rosé Millesime is a rosé made from 100% Pinot Noir.  This wine is named after the great grandfather and one of their sons of him.   The juice contact with the skins lasted about 2-4 hours creating a soft pale pink wine in the glass.  This wine spends 14 months on the lees and had a fine perlage.  A fruity red fruit based nose mostly of strawberries and raspberries with a touch of strawberries delicately showing up on the palate. SRP $57

The Borgo Maragliano Germana Beltrame Brut Nature S.A. IV Editione is named after Carlo's mamma.  Made from 100% Chardonnay from single vineyards across 6 vintages between 2013 and 2018.  This is their only non-vintage cuvee.  Fresh apples with a slight buttery aroma with soft bubbles on the palate. SRP $69

The 2019 Borgo Maragliano Federico Galiano Blanc de Blancs Brut Alta Langa DOCG is made from 100% Riesling, a clone of the Rheingau.  This is named after another of the sons.  The soils of these vineyards are about 85-90% limestone, which Carlo described as these wines showing an intensive mandarin nose and producing a wine that is clean and direct.  This wine did have intense aromas of petrol and pear.  The bubbles were small and quickly dissipated. SRP $72

The 2019 Borgo Maragliano Francesco Galliano Blanc de Blancs Brut Alta Langa DOCG is made from 100% Chardonnay named after their 2^nd child.  The grapes come from a single vineyard planted in 1983.  The soils contains 40% limestone, a white soil that absorbs the water.  This wine spends 34 months maturing on the yeasts.  This wine showed notes of grapefruit pith showing a slight bitterness along with yellow flowers. SRP $50

Have you tried the sparkling wines of the Alta Langa?

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*This wine was provided as a sample, but opinions are always my own.