Azienda Agricola Ioppa, Nebbiolo, Ghemme Santa Fé, Alto Piemonte, Italy 2017

85% Nebbiolo, 15% Vespolina

Ioppa's Ghemme Santa Fe is well-balanced and velvety-textured, sapid with good tannin structure and a pleasantly bitter finish. The nose is delicate yet intense, with pleasantly fruity suggestions of violet and strawberry.

“Santa Fé” is a hilltop vineyard planted in 1969 on a clay-rich soil with south-west exposure.

20 to 25-day natural fermentation of must in temperature-controlled stainless steel vessels, and several days of long maceration on skins. Ages for 36 to 48 months in 25-hectolitre Slavonian oak barrels. Rests in bottle at least 12 before release.

Azienda Agricola Ioppa was established in 1852 in the village of Romagnano Sesia, on the banks of the Sesia River. With a stunning view of Mount Rosa from the winery, it's almost impossible to forget that the Alps play a major role in the climate and soils that make Ghemme one of the most unique terroirs in Italy.

Ghemme is mostly composed of alluvial soils but has one large plateau above the river where the soils are more firm and are a mix of hard clay and mineral rocks of iron and quartz.

The wines of Ioppa are made traditionally with long macerations, light extractions and aged in large cask. They capture the floral side of Nebbiolo and Vespolina.