28 June 2021
An underground «rainbow». The lands of Gattinara cannot be easily described.
But if we were to use a “colored” metaphor, an underground
rainbow would be a fitting description. All thanks to the fossil supervolcano
that exploded about 300 million years ago: under the pressure of the African
plate, it “overturned” and erupted a huge amount of lava, especially molten
rocks. Today, those elements are part of the soils found between Valsesia and
Valsessera, halfway between Biella and Lake Maggiore, so to speak.
Gattinara was one of the centers of the huge
caldera of that supervolcano: as soon as the clayey and detrital layer of the
soil is unearthed, the fossil rainbow reveals itself showing the wonderful
shades of the igneous rocks present here. We can see the pinkish purple
porphyry, red orange ferrous crystals, white granites rich in magnesium and
black basalts, and very hard volcanic rocks rich in silicon, the most evident
proof of lava spill from the lithosphere.
Needless to say, the vines (which cover an area
of about 100 hectares in Gattinara, surrounded by pre-alpine woods) benefit
from this variety of minerals. Gattinara Docg, the wine named after the
homonymous municipality where it is produced, reveals a sapid note that completes
the elegant finesse and austere opulence of Nebbiolo, Piedmont’s main
grape variety and the very base for the production of Gattinara (containing at
least 90%).
In Gattinara, the soil really makes the
difference. Aside from the various magmatic rocks, along the surface we can
find: clayey marls of tertiary origin that are typical of all Piedmont wine
hills; morainic residues of the Sesia River containing pebbles and stones
brought downstream by the melting of the alpine glaciers. A fortunate
geological complexity that combines with soils generally poor in humus that
urge the vine roots to reach further underground, “piercing” the layers of
magmatic rock, to absorb microelements. This is how extremely complex wines are
born, endowed with exceptional depth and structure like those of the best wines
destined for aging. These are wines that amazed writer Mario Soldati («a sip of
Gattinara, I don't ask for more») and famed gourmand and wine journalist Luigi
Veronelli, who lauded its potential for aging albeit revealing a fresh and
velvety sip.
CULTIVATING DIFFERENS
Among the great interpreters of Gattinara Docg is undoubtedly Travaglini, a historic local winery with 55 hectares of vineyards, the largest in the entire denomination.
Travaglini is the soul of Gattinara for at least two reasons. On the one hand, thanks to the work of its pioneers (Clemente, Arturo and Giancarlo Travaglini) the winery has restored dignity and importance to the wines produced in this area, enhancing the quality of Gattinara and elevating it among the great reds of Piedmont and the whole world. Just like what happened last November: Gattinara 2016 by Travaglini was chosen by Forbes among the 20 best wines to accompany Thanksgiving dinner and this year Gattinara 2015 was included among the Top 100 by Wine Spectator.
On the other hand, the new generation (Cinzia Travaglini, her husband Massimo and their daughters Alessia and Carolina) has faced tradition and taken it one step further, beginning work for vineyard “parcellation”: an operation of choosing and separately vinifying the best property plots to obtain even more characteristic wines that are the direct expression of particular microterroirs of the area.
Alongside Gattinara Docg and Gattinara Docg Riserva (which the grandfather, Giancarlo, already chose from the most suitable vineyards), are additional labels like Gattinara Docg Tre Vigne and Gattinara Docg Riserva Vigna Ronchi, first harvested in 2019 and will be released on market in a few years.
Tre Vigne was born from the union of three historical property vineyards from three different “sub-areas” of the denomination: Lurghe, a vineyard with clayey soil; Permolone, characterized by rocky soil; and Alice, located in the highest and windiest area of Gattinara, at about 420 meters. The mix of clays, rocks and altitude endows this fresh, balanced and rightly tannic wine with color, body and intense aromas.
Riserva Vigna Ronchi is a single vineyard wine, exclusively from the Ronchi vineyard, located on one of the highest points of Valfenera (approx. 400 meters), a hill northwest of the town of Gattinara and almost entirely owned by the Travaglini. The soils here are highly varied and present the incredible colors of the igneous rocks: brown porphyry, reddish ferrous stone and large slabs of black (basalt) and white (granite) rock, unearthed during the dig up operations carried out to fix the vineyard. The whole is covered with superficial layers of finer, gray-orange soil. The complex soils and the lengthy vinification process in oak barrels, though not yet finished, suggest that Riserva Ronchi will be a great wine, fruit of a microterroir that will clearly and definitely tell one of the many – and surprising – souls of Gattinara.
Finally, we must not forget that Travaglini produces other Nebbiolo-based labels, a complete range of wines for all occasions: this is a further proof of the extraordinary ductility of Piedmont’s main grape variety, a fruit that can skillfully “interpret” the soils where it is planted and yield, even on hills of Gattinara, a fortunate complexity of shades.
