Francesca Castaldi, Pianazzi Nebbiolo - Italy, 2023

Fast Facts

Vintage:
Winemaker(s):  Francesca Castaldi 
Region: Briona, Colline Novaresi DOC, Alto Piemonte, Italy 
Varietal(s): Nebbiolo
Terroir: Clay soils over pebble and glacial deposits

It’s hard to compare the pastoral beauty vineyards evoke, but the rolling, forested hills in northern Italy’s Piedmont region rank high on the list. Perhaps the unassuming landscape can also be analogous to the region’s most famous grape, Nebbiolo. Rugged and untamed, heavy-handed, leather bound and timeless– or at the same time delicate, seasonal, fine-tipped and elegant. How one grape can embody seemingly opposite characteristics is a question you’ll have to answer by tasting. 

Francesca Castaldi makes her wine in the unassuming village of Briona, in Piedmont’s Colline Novaresi region, just outside the Po River valley, whose foothills are a precursor to the towering Swiss Alps. Castaldi’s expression of the area’s classic grape, Nebbiolo, spans from traditional, structured and bold to the breezier, youthful and crunchier red fruit bottled in this month’s end of summer club. Think of it as a picnic red- meant to be enjoyed right out of the cellar and out on those rolling hills outside the winery. Or maybe Wright Park. 

Why’d we pick it?

Nebbiolo is so often wrapped up in the mystique and expense of Barolo that it can be unfamiliar or inaccessible: those big boys need time, and lots of it, to open up before they’re ready to drink, and they usually carry a hefty price tag. Sipping on a younger take of this juice, meant to be enjoyed right away is a great gateway to the intricacies and double-sided nature of one of Italy’s most famous wine grapes. 

Field Notes

• Serve this one slightly chilled. You gotta cellar right?! ;) ~60°F is ideal.
• Tastes like bright red cherries, roses, and earth with light tannins and a fresh, crunchy finish.
• Pairing thoughts: Follow your heart, and your stomach- enjoy the waning days of summer (please!) with some roasted Jimmy Nardello peppers and burrata slathered over some crusty sourdough, or the simplicity of tomatoes (right off the vine) cut thick, and Best Foods mayonnaise, on toast.