Villa Guelpa Nebbiolo Blend, Sizzano, Piemonte, Italy 2018

Daniele Dinoia founded Villa Guelpa with a goal of creating wines that express the rich and varied soils across his four hectares of vineyards in Alto Piemonte. He and his sons organically farm primarily Nebbiolo, Vespolina, and Erbaluce. Although the estate produces very limited quantities of all the wines, smaller still are the amounts of Sizzano, a traditional blend of Nebbiolo and Vespolina.

• Winemaker: Daniele Dinoia 
• Farming: Organic
• Variety: 70% Nebbiolo, 30% Vespolina
• Terroir: Sizzano DOC is only 20 hectares in size, porducing just a single blended red wine. The soils here are alluvial sands with pebbles, silt and clay. 
• Vinification: The family hand harvests the grapes in mid-October. The grapes are destemmed, pressed gently, and undergo spontaneous fermentation, followed by macerations on the skins or about 15 days. The wine is aged 24 months in 20HL used oak casks and then aged further in bottle. 
• Tasting Notes: A juicy, brooding Nebbiolo blend, with notes of dark red cherry, dried strawberry and soft, peppery undertones. Excellent with firm mountain cheeses, earthy black truffles, rich pasta dishes and roasted meats.