Description
Several years ago, the sisters acquired a parcel of very old vines planted in the local traditional maggiorina trellising system, in which four vines are planted in a tight square and trained in the four cardinal directions, forming a goblet shape. “Origini” (meaning “origins”) is a true field blend: everything is harvested and fermented together. In a way, it is the most Alto Piemonte wine the Contis produce; with Nebbiolo playing only a minor role, and with a training system so specific to the area, it takes the mind even farther from the Langhe than do the Boca and Spanna.
Vine Age: 50 to 80 years old
Winemaking Notes: Grapes for the Origini Rosso are 100% destemmed and transferred to a tank for native yeast fermentation. During the alcoholic fermentation, the must is punched down daily (twice at the beginning of the vinification, once when the sugar is almost done). The juice stays in contact with the skin and lees for about 10 days. The wine is then transferred to 40-hectoliter fiberglass vats to facilitate the separation of gross lees. The wine ages in wood barrels, steel vats and fiberglass. Malolactic fermentation occurs naturally. The wine is filtered before bottling with coarse filter pads. Small quantities of SO2 are added during racking and before bottling.
92 Points (2017 Vintage) Vinous 9/29/2020
"The 2017 Origini Vino Rosso di Alto Piemonte is Croatina, Nebbiolo, Vespolina, Dolcetto di Boca and Uva Rara. Readers will find an intense wine that melds together rich, exotic dark fruit with all the energy that is typical of Alto Piemonte reds, a combination that works so well here. Black cherry, plum, lavender, spice and menthol are front and center. Drink this exuberant red over the next decade or so."
Following in the path of their father, Ermanno Conti, the Conti sisters (Elena, Anna & Paola) represent the second generation to tend the family’s single hectare in the Boca DOC, which is comprised of two hillside parcels, planted by Ermanno in 1971. The Conti family rigorously applies organic standards to their farming, does a manual harvest and continues to apply the same philosophy to the work in the cellar. Indigenous yeasts are used in fermentation and little to no sulphur is applied during the elevage and at bottling. In fact, several experimenal cuvees are bottled entirely without the appication of sulphur.
The Boca DOC, one of the smallest appellations in the Alto Piemonte, encompasses only twelve hectares spread over five villages (Boca, Maggiora, Cavallino, Prato Sesia, Grignasco) and split amongst eleven different vineyard owners. While Nebbiolo is the principal grape, Vespolina and Uva Rara are integral parts of the DOC as well. The soils are composed of limestone, clay and sand, similar in profile to Gattinara, which is a short 10km drive to the southwest. However, Boca has a distinctly different structure from its neighbor, Gattinara, more elegant and less masculine. The Boca DOC requires that the wines must be aged three years prior to release.
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