‘La Ca' Nova is, in my view, quite possibly the greatest Barbaresco estate most people have not heard about. Yet. The wines, from two of the very top sites in town, are magnificent.’
Antonio Galloni, August 2019.
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La Ca Nova has quietly been making outstanding, terroir-driven Barbarescos for generations from two of the appellation's top crus, Montestefano, and Montefico.
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect is that these polished and compelling wines are made without utilizing modern technology.
There is no secret as to why these wines are quintessential expressions of Nebbiolo – it all starts in the vineyards with healthy grapes that are allowed to reach optimal ripeness.
Although La Ca Nova has flown under the radar for decades, they have received a fair share of the spotlight.
In 2019 Forbes named them as an honorable mention amongst the top 25 producers in Barbaresco.
Wine critic extraordinaire, Antonio Galloni, annually bestows high praise for this little-known gem consistently scoring their wines in the mid to high 90s.
But the highest praise this winery has received is through the reputation of Barbaresco's most elite producer, Gaja, when pioneer Angelo Gaja would purchase these grapes to use in production for his own wines.
There's no doubt that this wine will continue to outshine many of its counterparts, it's not every day you find a sub $50 bottle of Barbaresco that outperforms many of its $100+ compatriots.
Pietro Rocca, the family's smiling and modest patriarch, is a fourth-generation grape grower.
In the early 1970s, he began making and bottling Barbarescos; before that, his family sold their grapes to the Barbaresco behemoth Angelo Gaja.
Their single-vineyard bottlings come from two of the most coveted sites in Barbaresco.
Montestefano produces some of the most structured Barbarescos, and the Roccas own prime parcels situated at 270 m above sea level with full southern exposures.
Motefico, where the Roccas own the Bric Mentina vineyard, has a similar altitude, Southern and southeastern exposure, and marl soil.
Local legend has it that Montefico was once owned by Domizio Cavazza, the founding father of Barbaresco.
Today Pietro is joined by his sons Marco, an enologist, and Ivan, an agronomist who tends to the vineyards.
The family adopts a strictly hands-off approach in the winery, using only wild and native yeasts for fermentation.
This takes place mostly in steel tanks and three wooden conical bats, but with no temperature control. Just before fermentation is complete, the family continues fermentation and maceration with the antique tradition known as steccatura, whereby wooden planks keep the cap submerged in the tank.
This time-consuming method gently extracts more color and polyphenols.
For La Ca Nova's single-vineyard bottlings, fermentation and maceration generally take twenty-five to thirty days.
After fermentation, the Barbarescos are aged in 30 hectoliter casks, but rather than Slovenian oak, Pietro prefers Austrian oak: “They are untoasted and neutral, and are the best-quality barrels I have ever seen.
In fourteen years, not one has ever leaked a drop.”
I believe the 2019s rank with the very best vintages that I have tasted from La Ca’ Nova.
The year started with a cold, wet spring, which provided ample ground water for the summer months to come.
From June through to August the days were hot and dry, and fine conditions continued through September.
One key requirement for high class Nebbiolo is a significant switch between day and night-time temperatures; this is particularly good for the development of aromas and the retention of acidity.
The long hang time benefitted the grapes on the vines and brought them to a fine level of maturity.
Marco began his harvest in mid-October – he compares the harvest conditions to 2016 and commented that the skins were wonderfully ripe allowing the same approach to extraction as he employed in 2016.
Extraction is the process of drawing colour, tannin and flavour compounds from the skins – the duration and method are down to the individual winemaker’s preference but also the condition of the skins.
If the skins are fragile at harvest, care is needed with extraction and often lighter, more forward wines result.
If, as in the case of the 2019s, near ideal conditions have delivered grapes with perfectly healthy and ripe skins, extraction can be extended and rich, more structural wines will result.
What struck me on tastings the 2019s was the purity on show.
These wines have great depth of fruit but such a line of purity – this is a hallmark of Marco’s minimal intervention winemaking style, but here the elegance is coupled with fine depth and power.
Frankly, I was blown away by the 2019s.
I think they are a touch deeper than the 2016s and seem to show a slightly more supple nature (relatively speaking).
Tasting the two cru and the generic Barbaresco side by side proved fascinating; the quality of all three is sky high.
We are honoured to be able to work with such a great estate and such a genuine individual as Marco.
These are special wines once more.
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