Ai Valloni from Boca, and other wines from Alto Piemonte
2/23/17 -
We are excited to have visitors from Boca: Anna Sertorio and Andrea Marzo, owners of the organic vineyard called Ai Valloni. After the war, Ai Valloni was one of just a few producers who held on as the land under vine in Boca (and throughout Alto Piemonte) shrunk dramatically, the result of a combination of flight to the city, and a declining local wine market. From their spectacular hilltop vineyards you can now see many new plantings of grapes as the area experiences a boom, but very little has changed at Ai Valloni, where the vines were always farmed without chemicals, and the winemaking was (and is) traditional. We love the Ai Valloni wines for their classic and old-school expression of the region, which like the other great Alto Piemonte wines (see below!), age beautifully. In a cellar of very large botte, there are just 3 barriques, and they are given a tongue-in-cheek place of honor, where they are used for any overflow wine from the botte. I find it easy to forget that their 2001 is already… 15 years old! I think it will age well for many years, but it’s also a real pleasure to drink now.
We invite you to join us for dinner with the Sertorios at Maialino (Thursday, March 16th). We will taste the Ai Valloni wines, and, to re-confirm our wonderful previous experiences with old Alto Piemonte wine, we will also taste a slew of some of the great wines and vintages from the historically best producers, including: Vallana 1961 Spanna Campi Raudii, Antoniolo 1964 Gattinara, Nervi 1964 Gattinara, and Nervi 1964 Ghemme; Dessilani 1978 Fara, Cantalupo 1978 Ghemme, Travaglini 1985 Gattinara, and Sella 1986 Lessona. Plus some other treats…
