Estate History: 100 miles northeast of the Langhe, in the hamlet of Maggiora, the Vallana estate was quietly making wines to rival the Baroli of Giacomo Conterno and Bartolo Mascarello. They quickly became known by the savviest of wine collectors and were sought after all during the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Antonio Vallana’s son Bernardo crafted some of the longest-lived, elegant and ethereal wines in the appellations of Spanna, Gattinara, and Boca.
Tasting Notes: Campi Raudii is a Nebbiolo based cuvee (90% Nebbiolo with Uva Rara and Vespolina) whose story dates to the Roman period when viticulture was brought in this area. Campi Raudii (Latin for red fields) is the name of one of the most important battles in Roman history which took place near the estate’s current foundation. After a hard-earned victory, the Romans introduced the cultivation of vines to these red colored soils.
"Another cuvée inspired by the terroir. The name means (more or less) Red Fields, refers to the peculiar combination of acidic soils and volcanic rock, which is actually red and virtually unique to Alto Piemonte. In fact, this kind of soil is seldom found in other viticultural areas all over Italy. The name also refers to the Campi Raudii battle and (again) the roman tradition. My brother insisted on using this name for the modern day version of this, because our grandfather used to use grapes sourced from both sides of the River Sesia in Alto Piemonte for making this Spanna. He also blended in some Vespolina. Nowadays, this practice (mixing grapes from both sides of the Sesia) is not permitted by the «Disciplinare» in order to qualify for DOC. Therefore, we are not allowed to use the name «Spanna» for this wine. We actually read this as an opportunity, also because with this wine we are free to use more than 15% vespolina, and again follow what our grandfather did. The only main difference is that at his time, there would have also been some uva rara in the blend, and Vespolina was picked in the same vineyards of nebbiolo (field blend) as opposed to being blended separately as it is done nowadays (mainly because with time, everyone abandoned field blends given the difference in ripening time of Vespolina compared to Nebbiolo). There could have been other grape varieties in minor proportions (1%, 2%), always because of field blends. It must be kept in mind that at the time, most farmers would not be 100% sure of every single variety they had, and the grapes for the Spanna dei campi Raudii wasn’t 100% of our production. It might also help to know that Vespolina is genetically a child of Nebbiolo, and as it is proven by many older bottles, it does not compromise at all the ageing potential of its parent. Unfortunately, with the DOC rules, many people started to conceive Spanna as a minor appellation, and some producers compromised with quality. We strongly believe that in Alto Piemonte, if you want to make a "lesser" wine, you must use other varieties. For Nebbiolo, one can only make a very good wine, or a really poor wine. The variety, in this area, does not lend itself to any compromise what so ever. This is why, almost as a "challenge", we held back some of our non appellation Spanna and released it as a library release: I hope the wine is proving us right" :-) - Bernardo Spanna
