colombera & garella

“Our friend Cristiano Garella, native wünderkind, is one of the master-keys of the area.”

Domaine Overview

Year Founded: 2010

Winemaker: Cristiano Garella

Location: Masserano, Northern Piedmont

Size: 9.5 hectares

Grapes: Nebbiolo, Croatina, and Vespolina
Farming: Practicing organic; copper, sulfur

Production: About 12,000 bottles/year

300 million years ago, a volcano created the raw material for seven tiny but geographically complex appellations collectively known as Alto Piemonte, an area about two hours North-northeast of Barolo and Barbaresco, literally at the ‘foot’ of the Alps. After years of abandon, this once great bastion of Italian wines is now being revitalized by a few key producers. If you haven’t started exploring this area,  you’re missing out on the glory of Nebbiolo when combined with local varieties, as well as, a study in the area’s unique soils.

Colombera & Garella, as the name suggests, is his most intimate contribution among the many wineries he collaborates with. The Colombera part is Giacomo, Cristiano’s long-time friend, and Giacomo Colombera’s father, Carlo, who’s been growing grapes in the area since the early 1990s. Colombera & Garella’s winery and vineyards are mostly in the Bramaterra appellation, though they’ve ventured into the yellow and red-ochre sands of Lessona as well.

At 350-400 meters, Bramaterra and Lessona’s soils are distinctly acidic, quite different from Barolo and Barbaresco’s basic soils. These acidic soils produce wine with lower alcohol than you find nowadays in the Langhe, and give the wines a ferrous, sanguine minerality. These are wines whose structure seems to come from minerality (as slippery as that word can be) more than from tannins.

Just as in other great growing areas with varied soil, one can immediately taste the difference between Bramaterra and Lessona: Bramaterra’s volcanic soil is composed of crumbly red-brown rocks made from porphytic sand crystals. These wines have a muscular fruit, and a deep, chiseled minerality. There’s something rough yet charming around the mineral edges, sort of like approaching papà Carlo in the vineyards when he gives you a bear hug.

Lessona still has acidic soil as well, but here you see a marine sand that’s yellow or red-ochre in color. Lessona’s fruit is svelte, with a delicate, etched minerality – think wild strawberries and their popping seeds.

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The Wines

Colombera & Garella 'Cascina Cottignano' Bramaterra

Here’s a Nebbiolo blend etched by an extinct volcanic terroir of red-brown porphyritic sand. 300 million years ago, a volcano created the raw material for the Bramaterra DOC and eight other geographically complex appellations, collectively known as Alto Piemonte. Bramaterra allows more of the varieties Croatina and Vespolina than most of the other Alto Piemonte DOCs. These varieties add resonance and spice to the wonder that is Nebbiolo, while the volcanic soils and more northerly latitude give wines of a particular elegance, perfume, and refreshment compared with the more powerful Nebbioli from Barolo and Barbaresco to the south.

colombera & garella coste della sesia

The vineyards for the Colombera & Garella Costa della Sesia can only be accessed using a 4x4 vehicle up a steep forest road. After the grapes are handpicked, they are brought back to the house and winery where they are fed through a small window under the kitchen to the basement cellar below. Here they are fermented in underground cement tanks from 1910 for about 12-14 days. The attention to detail is fastidious with every label applied by hand with paint brush and glue. The wines are classic Nebbiolo -  fresh, with bright red fruit, mushroom, a touch of sage and nutmeg. The wine can be drunk immediately or aged up to 5 years.

Colombera & Garella 'Pizzaguerra' Lessona

A remarkable wine: fine and elegant tannins, blueberry, camomile and floral aromas; open, amazingly pure rose and red berry fruit. An absolute classic.Grapes are handpicked by the family and one single employee (Bian). The bunches are de-stemmed and crushed before being fermented without temperature control, using wild yeasts in concrete tanks, with pumping over and delestages. The wine is aged for 2 years in 2nd and 3rd passage tonneaux. The wine is then blended and aged for another few months in concrete tanks before being bottled without filtration.

Colombera & Garella Vino Rosso 'Vispavola'

The nose smells of cherries, cigar ash, and healthy, vibrant red flowers. Over time, the bouquet deepens and darkens, becomes plummier, and takes on an enticing, gravelly expression. The palate has ripe red fruits, with crisp apricot, and a layer of zippy black minerals. The weighty stone fruit flavor grows after seeing two hours of air. Structurally, great acidity, focusing on the back of the tongue, that balances the wine's lovely, fruity middle. Tannic in the right places.