Growers / Italy / Piedmont / Rovellotti

Rovellotti

The family vinifies and ages its products in a mosaic of tiny underground cellars stacked high with decades-old botti, spread around Ghemme’s Ricetto, a 10th-century central walled compound that protected the townsfolk during times of strife and war.

Antenello Rovellotti has proudly declared during our visits to his estate that “of the less than 200 people in the world who carry my family name, 66 live in and around Ghemme.” The truly Ghemmese Rovellotti family has inhabited this small fortified town since at least the late 15th century, keeping alive its long tradition of producing some of the Alto Piemonte’s most enchanting and profound wines. The family vinifies and ages its products in a mosaic of tiny underground cellars stacked high with decades-old botti, spread around Ghemme’s Ricetto, a 10th-century central walled compound that protected the townsfolk during times of strife and war.

textured background of dirt

Antenello’s fanatical devotion to his hometown extends beyond his ancient cellars: he has collaborated since the 1980’s with the University of Milan to re-establish the natural environmental and ecological balance of his lands, and eventually strives to use zero chemicals in his viticulture. His fidelity to his vines, the area’s local insects, and to the land itself are a model for vignaioli everywhere. The family’s 15 ha are in Ghemme’s Baraggiola subzone, the southernmost in the appellation, and are among four main parcels: the Valle d’Enrico (planted to the Erbaluce for the family’s Passito), the Valplazza (planted to Nebbiolo bottled as Colline Novarese), the Chioso dei Pomi in Baraggiola’s center (recognized as a prime site since the 17th century and planted to Nebbiolo and Vespolina for the estate’s Ghemme), and the Costa del Salmino (also long-recognized as a prime site and planted to the domaine’s oldest Nebbiolo vines, form the spine of the Ghemme Riserva). Rovellotti’s Ghemme wines, alongwith his other cuvées, shine as some of the brightest stars in this exciting region, brimming with potential and waiting to be discovered.

Farming

Lutte Raisonnée since 1985

Treatments

Herbicide once a year, no other synthetic treatment except for insecticide against flavescence dorée. No synthetic treatments after fruit set

Ploughing

Annual ploughing to maintain vineyard health

Soils

Glacial moraine and acidic red clays

Vines

Planted at 2000-4000 vines/ha and trained in Guyot

Yields

Controlled through pruning, debudding, and an occasional green harvest on Nebbiolo and Vespolina vines, yields average 50 hl/ha

Harvest

Entirely manual, from late September to late October

Sourcing

Entirely estate fruit

Fermentation

Following total destemming, wines ferment spontaneously in stainless-steel tanks. Cuvaison lasts 10-20 days. White wine ferments in stainless-steel tanks with selected yeasts

Extraction

Wines see pumpovers during fermentation

Chaptalization

None

Pressing

Pneumatic pressing

Malolactic Fermentation

Spontaneous, in stainless-steel tanks following alcoholic fermentation

Élevage

36 months in large neutral oak botti from the Swiss Jura, with a handful of neutral, decade-old barriques used for overflow

lees

Wines are racked following malolactic and remain on their fine lees until assemblage prior to bottling

Fining and Filtration

Red wines are unfined and see plate filtration

sulfur

Applied before vinification, at rackings, and at bottling, with 50-75 mg/l total sulfur

Farming

Lutte Raisonnée since 1985

Treatments

Herbicide once a year, no other synthetic treatment except for insecticide against flavescence dorée. No synthetic treatments after fruit set

Ploughing

Annual ploughing to maintain vineyard health

Soils

Glacial moraine and acidic red clays

Vines

Planted at 2000-4000 vines/ha and trained in Guyot

Yields

Controlled through pruning, debudding, and an occasional green harvest on Nebbiolo and Vespolina vines, yields average 50 hl/ha

Harvest

Entirely manual, from late September to late October

Sourcing

Entirely estate fruit

Fermentation

Following total destemming, wines ferment spontaneously in stainless-steel tanks. Cuvaison lasts 10-20 days. White wine ferments in stainless-steel tanks with selected yeasts

Extraction

Wines see pumpovers during fermentation

Chaptalization

None

Pressing

Pneumatic pressing

Malolactic Fermentation

Spontaneous, in stainless-steel tanks following alcoholic fermentation

Élevage

36 months in large neutral oak botti from the Swiss Jura, with a handful of neutral, decade-old barriques used for overflow

Lees

Wines are racked following malolactic and remain on their fine lees until assemblage prior to bottling

Fining & Filtration

Red wines are unfined and see plate filtration

Sulfur

Applied before vinification, at rackings, and at bottling, with 50-75 mg/l total sulfur

Optional caption text here lorem ipsum

Growers