Piedmont, in the Northwestern corner of Italy, is known for its wines, thanks to the Langhe region, as we have discussed previously. However, there is another area in the northern reaches of Piedmont, at the foot of the Alps on the Italian-Swiss border, known as the Canavese, that produces noteworthy wines. Let’s explore this area north of Turin, Italy, through the eyes of organic woman winemaker Antonella Piatti and the white wine grape, Erbaluce.

The Canavese

As with much of Italy, one need not travel far to discover entirely different cultural differences. We discussed in our article on the piemontese dialect, much of Italy was heavily divided in separate countries until the 1860s. This has led to many distinct cultures that while similar, have their niches. For example, while only separated by an hour or so, or as the Italians say an oretta or little hour, the Canavese and Langhe areas, while both in Piedmont, are starkly different. First, the dialect we mentioned earlier. While much dialect can be understood between a Canavese and a Langhe piemontese speakers, there are many subtleties that come out. For example, Antonella Piatti’s erbaluce white wine, called Falavospa, refers in canavese piemontese to the spark of a fire or cinder. However, this word doesn’t exist in the Langhe piemontese, and in fact, a word that seems similar, faravosca, refers to the first light snowflakes that fall in wintertime.

Besides culturally, the terrain and weather changes significantly between the two micro-regions as rising imperiously behind the town of Caluso and the area of the Canavese are the Alps. From the Langhe, we see in the distance the French-Italian Alpine mountain range, but here in the Canavese, we are in the foothills of the Swiss-Italian Alps as they head into the Dolomites further to the east. These are mountains much higher and more craggy. Looking at the soil, remnants of the glacial pre-history of the region that are rocky and acidic, one can understand how wines come out with such marked differences from their Langhe counterparts, and how a grape such as Erbaluce thrives.

This location also brings with it the famous (or infamous) piemontese fog, or nebbia, for which the nebbiolo grape draws its name. To help combat this, many vineyards are trained as pergolas, with vines being trained high overhead to give the direct sunlight as wide an area as possible. In certain expositions, traditional single and double cordon trained vines are found as well, but the pergola vines are the most breathtaking. Strolling underneath, one just wants to pull out a blanket and hamper for a picnic and relax in the cool shade as the leaves soak up the sun.

While wonderful nebbiolo red wines come out of the area, perhaps one of the more famous wines are those made from the Erbaluce white grape.

Erbaluce: White Wine 3 Ways

The primary white wine grape of the Canavese, especially in Caluso, is Erbaluce. An interesting grape, it is common to find made by not just one, but three different vinification methods: Still, Sparkling (champagne method), and Sweet. This is thanks to its noteworthy ability to bring forth an intense acidity, something that in the first wines made with erbaluce was almost a draw back. For that reason, the first erbaluces were produced in appassimento, or dried, to make a sweet wine, like this riserva sweet wine from Briamara. The erbaluce grape is also well adapted to drying as it has a very thick skin, allowing it to be also resistant to many diseases. As time went on and Canavese winemakers learned to moderate the acidity present, a delicious and fresh still white wine emerged, like Falavospa, from woman winemaker Antonella Piatti. In its sparkling version, that acidity translates nicely with the bubbles for a pleasantly sip-able champagne method wine.

A prolific vine, winemakers like Antonella must be careful in the vineyards as the erbaluce vine has a very high cluster-per-vine ratio, and care must be taken to control the quality of the clusters to avoid over-production.

Woman in Wine: Antonella Piatti

Wine has always been a part of Antonella Piatti’s life. Before starting her own vineyard and winery, she and her husband, Ezio, both worked in the Canavese wine world, as consultants in the vineyard and winery. In fact, she studied wine at university, even studying for a time at the wine university in Alba in the Langhe.

When the opportunity to fulfill her dream of opening her own winery arose in 2000, Antonella knew from her experience and studies that she wanted to run an organic operation. Starting from scratch, she was always practicing organic farming, and took every step from the very beginning to get an organic certification. In 2006, after years of bureaucratic wrangling, her first certified organic vintage was crafted in her winery in Mazzè, just outside of Caluso, the heart of Erbaluce country. Now, years in the future, Vero is proud to represent her organic Erbaluce di Caluso for the first time in the US, an exciting opportunity as never before did they sell their wines to a business - in Italy, Antonella has sold only direct to consumers, at farmers markets, etc.

Meeting Antonella, she is a warm and inviting personality, happily chatting as wine is sipped in her informal tasting area of the winery. When Langhe resident Jacqueline Mitchell visited Antonella, she was blown away how quickly the time flew! ‘We sat down with Antonella and started opening wines, and the next thing we knew over 3 hours had passed! Tasting and chatting with Antonella about the differences between the Langhe and Canavese, from the piemontese dialect to the world of wine, was just such a delight I never noticed the clock ticking onward’ Jacqueline told us after her visit and tasting.

As Antonella explained, she loves keeping her winery small production, so she can watch over every aspect from the vineyard to bottling to handing the bottle to clients. Focusing on her private clients in the area allows her to create a community for her wines, much like how we, here at Vero, curate carefully for our community. It allows her as well to control her production well, not only of her organic Erbaluce di Caluso, but her red wine blends as well which she crafts as field blends, from well known native varieties like nebbiolo and barbera, to the more obscure indigenous varieties like the red grape burgnin (nebbiolo di Dronero).

Taste Erbaluce from the Canavese

You can let your wine glass explore the Canavese area and the erbaluce grape with the help of Vero! Try our Erbaluce Explorer Tasting Trio to taste the erbaluce grape in all its glory, as a sparkling wine, a still white, and as a passito sweet wine. Or you can just go straight to Antonella’s organic Erbaluce di Caluso, available for the first time in the US!

Taste Wines from North Piedmont