Federico and Deborah Santini class themselves as wine lovers first and grape growers and winemakers second. Their path to Carema was through visiting wineries and tasting with friends. (They add wistfully, now we don’t have time for that. ) However, this is only part of the story, as Deborah is a highly qualified scientist who worked in the field of vine virology. But on the steep, rocky slopes of Carema, what counts is a commitment to work by hand (‘the only mechanisation we have is a grass cutter’) and to make the most of tiny plots of land. The names they have given to their winery and wines reflect the physical environment: Muraje is simply ‘walls’ in dialect, with reference to the massive rock wall from which all the Carema vineyard plots are carved and the dry stone walls that create the terraces. The word ‘Sumie’ is the part of the pergola that carries the canopy away from the dry stone wall, exposing it to the sun, wind and rain.
The first wines were made in 2012 and were just three demijohns which fermented in a friend’s cellar. They now have one and a half hectares in various parcels, 85 per cent of which they own. The aim is to have four hectares when the opportunity arises. In the early years, 2015 and 2016, the wines were made in the cellars of Le Piane in Boca, no doubt with a bit of mentoring from Christoph Künzli. The tiny traditional cellar they now have is already full of casks, tanks and bottles waiting to be shipped. As all the new wave of producers in Carema say, this is very much a work in progress.
On the hillside, Federico and Deborah are very much committed to the pergola. The payoff in terms of work is that pruning and tying-in are very labour-intensive and often have to be done from a ladder, but then there is very little canopy management to do later in the season. Pergola-trained wines reduce evaporation from the ground, a critical factor in Carema’s fast-draining, sandy soils. Also, the tiniest scraps of land can be used as the canopy can be allowed to develop over rocks where there is no soil and paths. They also believe that pergola-trained vines are more resilient. In fact, all their fruit comes from old vines that are around 50 years old, shortly to be supplemented by tiny amounts of fruit from young vines.
As is common in Carema, the Picotendro biotype of Nebbiolo is grown which has small bunches and small berries. It is relatively thin-skinned. Federico says this is one of the reasons for Carema’s gentle tannins; the skins and seeds mature early, even before the desired level of sugar has been reached. A common sense approach is taken to maintaining the health of the vineyard with limited spraying as necessary. For example, synthetic products were used in the disastrously rainy 2024, saving some of the crop.
As in the past, the selection of bunches and berries is done in the vineyard. Destemmed fruit starts to ferment spontaneously in stainless steel tanks for Lasù and concrete tanks for Carema, and the wine is left on the skins for a month and a half. There is no temperature control as the natural temperature in October and November is already low. Malolactic fermentation happens naturally in spring as the temperature rises. The wines are then aged in a mix of concrete tanks and ‘exhausted’ (i.e. very old) tonneaux and barriques for a minimum of 12 months.
The first wine is named Lasú, in dialect the part of the pergola that carries the canopy away from the dry stone wall, exposing it to the sun, wind and rain. It is bottled as a simple vino rosso, and is a blend of 60 per cent Nebbiolo and 40 per cent of various forms of Neretto, old native varieties. In some years, 5 per cent of Carema-grown Erbaluce, the local white variety, is co-fermented in the blend. Neretto was grown in the past in Carema, especially on cooler sites where Nebbiolo would not ripen reliably. Today it contributes lower acidity, tannins and alcohol, resulting in fresh, lower alcohol, approachable but still ageable wines. By contrast, Sumié, Carema DOC, is basically entirely Nebbiolo and is aged for around 12 months in wood and then for 6–8 months in concrete tanks, which Federico increasingly prefers. Federico and Deborah remain wine lovers but now are also contributing to the rebirth of Carema. By their patient, high-quality work, they have won the trust of initially sceptical older growers. As a result, they are gradually acquiring and restoring the old vineyards of Carema.
Wines
Muraje Carema Sumie
Tech sheet: 2018