With just 1.1 hectares of vineyard – in the highly prized Barolo Brunate subzone in the commune of La Morra – it might seem remarkable that Claudio Boggione has made a viable wine business.
The family story goes back to the 1950s when grandfather Antonio moved here and bought the plot with the farmhouse. It is difficult to understand now, but as late as the 1980s, there was no market for Barolo wines. Then, it was common to sell Dolcetto and Barbera wines for drinking and give the buyer a bottle of Barolo as a bonus! How times have changed.
The next generation was similarly precarious. Claudio’s father did not work the land, which instead was tended by his uncle and grandfather. A plot of Cannubi was acquired, ‘two giornate’ in the typical Piemontese measurement (0.7 ha), but with only animals as transport, it was too far away to be practical to work. As a result, it was sold to the then-rising star and neighbour Luciano Sandrone. In this period, most of the grapes were sold to the big negociant houses, with wine only being made for domestic consumption. Similarly, the large flat plot below the vineyard was sold to the major co-operative wine business, Vite Colte, to build their modern winery. When Claudio’s uncle’s health began to fail, the major company Ceretto would have gladly bought the Boggione plot, not least as it abuts its vineyards in Brunate. Through these tactical sales and sheer persistence, the Boggione family hung on to its parcel of Brunate.
The decisive moment came in 2008 when the current owner, Claudio Boggione, made two bold moves. First, he set up a wine company in his own name and, simultaneously, a garage business in the city of Alba. You can still have your car repaired at that business today. In the winery, Claudio began to bottle the wines left by his uncle and bought modern stainless steel tanks for fermentation and casks for maturing his wines. The priceless inheritance from the past was the vineyard, planted in 1959, probably with a mix of Lampia and Michet clones. When individual vines die, they are replaced with vines made by massal selection from robust, still productive old vines which have proved their worth. A great site and old vines are the foundations of a very special wine.
The vineyard is situated at the lowest point of Brunate, around 250 m elevation and faces southeast to southwest. The soil is predominantly clay, with the very lowest part having more sand, where vines are grown for Langhe Nebbiolo. Claudio has eschewed herbicides and employs pheromones to ward off the European grape moth. A persistent problem is the trunk disease, Esca, for which there is as yet no remedy. As with all producers, the wildly variable weather between and within seasons requires constant attention.
Much of his winemaking is very traditional. Grapes are pressed in a wooden basket press. Fermentation (if with selected yeast for certainty) is carried out in stainless steel tanks but without cooling technology. Daily rack-and-returns serve to cool the fermenting wine, break up the cap and aerate the wine to encourage complete fermentation. Maceration on the skins lasts between 20 and 30 days, depending on the year. The wine is then racked to stainless steel tanks to complete malolactic fermentation, either in autumn or spring, depending on the natural temperature.
The wine is then matured for two years in 20 hectolitre casks, one year in French oak and one in Slavonian. Claudio likes this combination. After blending the final wine, it rests for two months in an old concrete tank. By then, the wine is clear and stable and is bottled unfiltered. Just 7,000 bottles of Barolo Brunate are made.
Claudio is inspired by the desire to keep the family heritage alive. He combines a proper pride in what he has done and is doing, with thanks for the rare opportunity to make great, ageable wine from one of Barolo’s most prestigious sites. He knows he is blessed by being in a beautiful place. At the same time, he does everything possible to work to a very high standard in the vineyard, to bring the healthy grapes he himself has grown into the cellar and make wine which fully allows the grape variety and the place to express itself to the full. The whole operation exudes a quiet stability, despite all the usual challenges of each season, and a conviction about the high quality of his wine.
Wines
Boggione Claudio Barolo Brunate
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