La Prevostura Bramaterra 2012

At La Prevostura, understandably, most of the attention goes to the Lessona, but this risks overlooking their excellent Bramaterra. It's a somewhat "wilder" wine, a bit rawer and more subdued at first, but it speaks very clearly of its excellent terroir with the beautiful red, slightly evolved colour of Nebbiolo, a complex bouquet with nuances of cherry and orange ash with an earthy touch, a fairly intense, long, structured palate. Provided decanting is certainly already fully enjoyable, but these wines have a very long life and with age become increasingly beautiful.

The barely 1-ha vineyard where this wine is harvested is located in the centre of the appellation. Here, the soil consists mainly of red-brown porphyry sand of volcanic origin. As such, the vineyard, planted with 70% Nebbiolo, 18% Vespolina and 12% Croatina gives a very different wine to that from the Prevostura hillside. After a maceration of some 30 days, this too matures for over 2 years in barrel and 1 year in bottle. Although the vines here are a lot older - some 35 years - yet again very low yields, barely 3,200 bottles were produced.

I Vini d' Italia 2016: “bel colore, profumi limpidi e invitanti, bocca succosa, tannini compatti e sodi, notevole slancio”