2/5/26 - 

We love Alto Piemonte here at Chambers Street because of its really interesting geology, history, and wine production. It’s heyday stretched from the 17th century until the early 20th century, ceasing after two world wars, phylloxera, and industrialization around the Sesia River. There are about 700 hectares under vine, down from 40,000 in the region’s prime- all the more reason to continue drinking the wines and talking about the area!
 
The explosion of a super volcano hundred of millions of years ago left this area with its volcanic soils. Then at the end of the last Ice Age, melting and shifting glaciers carved out slopes exposing iron rich soils with high pH. The acidic soils, high altitude, and swing between warm days and cool nights all create perfect growing conditions for Spanna, the local name for Nebbiolo. 
 
After World War II, the textile industry exploded. Understandably, lots of folks abandoned their vines to engage in the newer opportunities of the area. The soils are so poor and acidic that vines grow slowly, roots have to dig deeper to find nutrients, and fruit yields are low. While these characteristics may have felt like impossible constraints while the world was rapidly industrializing, we understand now that these are desirable conditions which lead to tension and complexity in wine. Now we are seeing a revival, farmers working on the interesting and varied soils with a respect for the history and tradition of the region.
 
Today we are featuring six wines, spanning the sub-regions of Gattinara, Boca, Lessona, Sizzano, and Coste delle Sesia. 

-Marisa Licandro

Daniele Dinoia, proprietor of Villa Guelpa. Daniele says "My kids are working in the vines - we never considered not farming organically"

Villa Guelpa
Villa Guelpa is a small estate based in Lessona, with tiny plots sprinkled through Lessona, Boca, and Sizzano. The founding philosophy of Villa Guelpa is to express the varied soils throughout Alto Piemonte, and they are doing an excellent job of that, traveling up and down challenging, rocky mountains to get to their varied vineyards. They only have three hectares under vine, so you can imagine how small each plot is.

Those of you who are already fans of Villa Guelpa may notice the outstanding prices offered today. Stock up while we wait for the fantastic 2021 vintage!

Bianchi 
In 1785 Bianchi Giuseppe Maria broke ground on his dream to cultivate new vineyards. His initial efforts have led to eight generations of wine makers. In the mid-twentieth century, Giuseppe was a key figure who, through tenacity and determination, developed the winery to a place of notoriety throughout northern Italy and Switzerland. Daughter, Eva, and her husband, Mario, acquired the holdings in Gattinara and worked to expand the market overseas. Now, Giuseppe's nephew Paolo and sister-in-law, Eva, have developed the winery further by melding innovation with tradition, new technologies in sympathy with nature, resulting in a new line of sought-after wine. -Weygandt-Metzler

Sperino
In 1999, Paolo De Marchi and his son Luca began laying the foundation to bring back the original family cellars in Lessona. With the goal of bringing the legendary wines of northern Piedmont back into the limelight. Their first vintage 2004, was released in 2006. Most of the vines owned by Proprietà Sperino are in the historic district of Ori (meaning ‘gold’ in Italian), so-called for its bright yellow, deep marine sands characterizing the soil on the sunny pre-alpine plateau of Orolungo.
Proprietà Sperino now counts eight hectares of vines, at the foot of Monte Rosa. Six are in Lessona, the other two and a half in Bramaterra. The mineral rich sands of this area are unique to the Piedmont. The cellars are located in the old castle of Lessona, dating back over 200 years. This may be one of the most important and historical wine restoration projects in Italy today.  -Giuliana Imports

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