Vino da Tavola
Grape Erbaluce

Fresh fig, apricot, cantaloupe melon and kiwi fruit. Lovely salt and mineral elements heighten the tension. An excellent and precise wine.

link to Villa Guelpa producer page

A fascinating Erbaluce, bottled as vino da tavola with no mention of the vintage on the label (the lot number is useful). It could be bottled as Coste della Sesia Bianco, however Daniele is not a fan of the ‘catch all DOC’ used by many Alto-Piemonte producers for their ‘second’ wines. The reason is simple, the terroir between Gattinara and Lessona is so diverse and as such, the name ‘Coste della Sesia’ gives little indication of the wine in the bottle. With such a tiny production, it really makes very little difference what it is called, most of the wine goes to Paris where it is considered the ultimate wine to partner oysters, you will find no dissent here.
The vineyard is just under a hectare at an altitude of 300m, facing from south to south west. The top soils are made up of reddish-yellow glacial deposits with a high proportion of pebbles. The vines were planted in 1992 at a density of five thousand plants per hectare, using a simple Guyot trellis system.
The vines were harvested by hand in the second week of September, the bunches sorted and gently de-stemmed prior to a short maceration on the skins followed by a soft pressing and a spontaneous fermentation in concrete tanks with no temperature control. The wine remains on the lees for four months before a light filtration and bottling.