Ioppa


— About —

GUIDE TO THE REGION OF ALTO PIEDMONTE, GHEMME AND IOPPA

Alto Piedmonte is on the North East tip of the whole region of Piedmonte. 150km from Barolo. Contains 6 DOC’s and 2 DOCG’s (Ghemme and Gattinara). Dedicated to the production of Nebbiolo, with Vespolina & Croatina the other main grape varieties.

Mixture of Volanic soils and Granite sands, differing from the white limestone and soft bedrock of the Langhe. It’s a great deal cooler than the Langhe at the base of the Alps. More rain in the winter and cooling winds off the peaks means a longer growing season, harvest often 2 to 3 weeks later than Barolo/Barbaresco.

Cooler temperatures means deeper coloured Nebbiolo’s. In addition historically these wines particularly the DOCG’s of Ghemme & Gattinara had wonderful acidity to age but due to the marginal climate could be very tannic when young without the fruit weight to balance this. Global warming has certainly helped these wines giving some more mid pallet richness.

Historical note – In the 19th Century it was the wines of Gattinara, not Barolo or Barbaresco that was Piedmonte’s most famous red wine. Due to some bad luck including phylloxera and many farmers/industry leaving the area in the early 1900’s to work in the cities caused many vineyards to be abandoned. More recently Alto Piemonte has returned to share the limelight as the search for alternatives to Barolo and Barbaresco.

 

SOILS

Colline Novaresi DOC is located on the right bank of the river (not highlighted on the map), above the DOCG of Ghemme. Gravel, Alluvial, Red Clay. Wines with high acidity.

Ghemme’s unusual bedrock mostly consists of incredibly friable granite rocks; or what appears to be a rock, but can easily be crushed into sand with a gentle squeeze of your fingertips. Granite sand is the key to Ghemme; it brings the high-toned, ethereal qualities to the Ioppa wines—There is also a lot of clay topsoil in certain sections and granite sands in others. But in the case of the Ioppa’s vineyards, no matter what lies on top, they all rest on this special granitic alluvium subsoil.

 

THE ESTATE

Ioppa has a long history in the region, dating back to 1852.

The Ioppa’s have been farmers and winemakers for centuries. In 1852 Michelangelo Ioppa bought the best vineyard land in the area. 5th generation Pietro Ioppa in 1968 was one of the promoters when Ghemme wine was finally awarded the DOC label, upgraded to DOCG in 1996.

In more recent times they have tripled the size of their estate to over 20ha and built a new winery on the outskirts of Romagnano Seiso. Recent changes to winemaking + viticulture – organic conversion + large oak format.

The new generation has their sights set on the past glories of traditionally crafted wines from this region. They’ve returned to soft extractions and long aging in large, old foudre, an influence heightened by the Cristiano Garella, one of the most talented young consulting enologists in Italy, who began working with the family in 2015. A return to working with nature began with the rejection of herbicides, pesticides and unnatural treatments, and now the conversion to organic farming—a practice that presents great challenges with this region’s high precipitation and mildew pressure, especially in vineyards with clay soils that retain more moisture than the sandier sites.