“Vallana creates Spanna with extraordinary life spans, their breeding, substance and longevity showing no compromise whatever with conceptions of mass consumerism.” – Burton Anderson
Our history and love affair with Vallana began with Michael Skurnik, remembering the wine from his time at Windows on the World. Unfortunately the wines were out of the US market for years and we could not be more excited to have these wines back in the States and we are proud to showcase this thrilling producer from Alto Piemonte!
As the Vallana family explains, Spanna, the local name for Nebbiolo, is a grape of terroir. While the Langhe showcases a beautiful expression, especially in the Barolo and Barbaresco regions, no list is complete without the wines of Alto Piemonte. Here, at the base of the Alps, at the foot of Monte Rosa, where the Mediterranean and Continental climates meet, Alto Piemonte takes on a charming and highly aromatic character. Alto Piemonte has acidic soils, rather than the alkaline soils of the Langhe, giving the wine its acid backbone and ultimately the structure and character that adds to the age ability. These vineyard sites are on gently sloping terraces along the left bank of the river Sesia and Lake Maggiore. Vallana owns vineyard sites within Colline Novaresi including the 2 important crus of Boca and Gattinara.
The classical labels that adorn Vallana’s bottles represent the family’s connection to the past, as well as their deep roots in the wine world. The estate as we know it today was formed in 1937, but the Vallana name was synonymous with great wine as early as the 18th century. Vallana is situated in the village of Maggiora in the Alto Piemonte, more than 100 miles north of Barolo. Today, the estate is run by Giuseppina Vallana, together with her son Francis (a Ph.D. in Viticulture and Oenology), and her daughters Marina and Miriam.
Farming Practice:Practicing Organic.
Wine Notes:
100% Spanna (Nebbiolo)
Grapes are hand-harvested and put into small 20kg baskets
Fermented in concrete vats under temperature control for 10 days
Aged in wooden casks for one year.
Fined, filtered, and bottled, and aged for a period of time in the cellar before release
125 cases produced annually
This wine is the result of the work and the passion of the youngest generation of Vallanas. However, it is also the fruit of an age-long family tradition, perfectly embodied in the XX century by Bernardo Vallana. The structure of the cellars on three layers, the size and the type of the fermentation tanks, the space for barrels and long-ageing bottles, most of the equipment the winery is still using today… all of this was designed or chosen by Bernardo Vallana. Most importantly, he left them with wines of incredible finesse and structure that are the greatest inspiration for their work and set the style of the winery.
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