Half an hour south of Carema, Riccardo Boggio has established a new winery aimed at showcasing the quality potential of the Serra Morenica of Ivrea. As its name implies, this is a moraine formed by the advance and retreat of glaciers that descended from the Alps over millions of years. The name ‘Kalamass’ was the name given by ancient Celtic tribes to the moraine.

“The Celtic population were in Canavese and on the Serra before the Roman Empire, that is the real essence of the area,” says Riccardo.

At its highest, the moraine rises to 850 m, though Riccardo’s vineyards are to be found at up to 400 m, still a considerable cooling element. In the past, the Canavese area was much greater than it is today, perhaps 1,000 hectares. Today, the vineyard area is around half of that, much of it devoted to the white grape variety, Erbaluce.

The Broglina vineyard is the source of the Kalamass Canavese DOC Nebbiolo. It is a south-facing site at an elevation of 400 m with morainic soil, a mixture of Alpine rocks, 55–60 per cent sand, and a beneficial amount of clay for water retention and silt. The vineyard was planted in 1999, in a period much influenced by the success of Langhe. As a result, it is Guyot-trained. In the winery, within a magnificent old house that used to belong to a local musical composer, the grapes are destemmed and crushed, and about 30 per cent of the stems are put back into the juice. This adds freshness, and the tannins of the ripe stems help to fix the colour of Nebbiolo. Fermented with spontaneous yeast, the wine remains on the skins and stems for between 35–50 days. Opening the large doors of the cellar room in October, when the temperature drops, helps maintain a sufficiently cool temperature during fermentation. Initially, the cap is handled with punch downs, and then the tank is closed with the cap submerged, aiming to extract as much as possible. Malolactic fermentation occurs in the old 225-litre barrels, where the wine remains for 12–15 months. 

Kalamass also produces a high-quality Erbaluce, bottled under the Caluso DOCG denomination, rather than as an ‘Erbaluce di Caluso’.

“I thought a lot about it,” he says, “but I chose Caluso because I want to sell Canavese, not the grape. You don’t drink Nebbiolo, you drink Barolo. You don’t drink Pinot Noir, you drink Burgundy. You don’t drink Erbaluce, you drink Caluso.”

The vineyard is pergola-trained in the system known locally as ‘Boca di Luca’ (‘wolf’s mouth’). This has short trunks with the pergola angled against the sun to allow a good balance of air and light under the canopy. Again, the winemaking is very specific. Grapes are destemmed and pressed, with part of the juice (30 per cent) going into used barrels and the rest to stainless steel vessels. Malolactic fermentation is allowed to happen as the aim is not to maximise primary fruit characters. The wine is then aged for a year in the same vessels with monthly bâttonage and then, most unusually, for a further two-and-a-half to three years in bottle before release for a wine of texture and length. 

As a trained winemaker, Riccardo’s approach is grounded in an understanding of natural processes and informed by his studies. Above all, he aims to allow the natural processes to unfold, monitoring developments and intervening only when necessary. He applies these principles to the vineyard, the cellar, and the market. Canavese may be a little-known wine region, but his wines show its enormous potential.