Gattinara DOCG

Gattinara DOCG is located in the Vercelli province of Piedmont's Alto Piemonte, northeast of the main Langhe wine zone, on a series of steep volcanic and porphyry rock terraces along the Sesia river valley. Nebbiolo — here called Spanna — is the sole permitted red variety, producing wines of extraordinary mineral depth, ethereal floral character and imposing tannic structure that age magnificently across two to three decades. Gattinara is one of Italy's great overlooked wines — producing Nebbiolo of genuine rival quality to Barolo and Barbaresco but from a completely different geological and climatic context. The volcanic porphyry soils (red tuffaceous rocks) impart a distinctive mineral-iron character that sets Gattinara apart from the more famous Langhe Nebbiolo. The appellation has recovered from decades of cooperative dominance and now has several world-class producers.