2018 Carema Riserva DOCG
Muraje

Soil type: sandy loamy glacial moraine deposited soils
Elevation: 300 and 600 meters above sea level
Grapes: Nebbiolo
Method of fermentation: Hand harvested and destemmed. Spontaneous alcoholic fermentation occurred in 15hl concrete tank. The wine stayed on the skins until December, when it was moved into used tonneau and glass demijohns. When the cellar warmed up in springtime, the wine underwent spontaneous malolactic fermentation.
Maturation: After 20 months of aging in old barrels, the wine is bottled without filtration.

Vineyards are cultivated between 300 and 600 mt above sea level, on centuries old terraces supported by dry stone walls on rocky amphitheater of Carema town in province of Turin (Piedmont, north-west of Italy). The grapes are 100% Nebbiolo (Picotendro biotype) from vines which are on everage 50 years old and are trained using the ancient ‘pergola caremese’ (‘topie’ in local dialect) method. The grapes for this first and only reserve wine produced by us to date come from a single area, a cru of particular value, Laurey named, with full south-west exposure. The grapes were harvested and sorted in the middle of October in small boxes of 20 kg.

The grapes were de-stemmed and pressed as soon as they arrived in cellar, and the must went into 15 hl concrete tank for spontaneous alcoholic fermentation. The must was pushed down manual once or twice daily until the end of fermentation. The maceration on the skins lasted till ending of December 2018, when after the racking and the pouring off, the wine was put in two exhausted tonneaux and some glass demijohn. The wine undergone spontaneous malolactic fermentation in spring 2019 and immediately after was racked with slight sulphiting.

The wine, after approximately 20 months of aging in hexausted tonneaux, was bottled at the beginning of September 2020, without filtration. N° 1226 burgundian bottles of 75 cl and 35 burgundian magnum of 150 cl were obtained. The bottles were labelled, numbered and capsulated with purple shellac by hand. No added oenological additive with the exception of sulphur dioxide in minimum quantities.

Climate vintage 2018: Mild winter, several spring precipitations and a very hot and dry summer. The thinning/green harvest was in July. The harvest was abundant and of excellent quality, an exceptional vintage to remember. The wine has a remarkable structure while maintaining the typical elegance of Carema Nebbiolo: deep and of notable complexity, it has good savory and excellent freshness which give a beautiful progression and a long persistence. A wine with great future prospects that is starting to reveal itself now.

Analytical data:
Alcohol: 13,5 %
Acidity: ~ 5,8 g/l
Total sulfur dioxide: ~ 30 mg/l