2013 Travaglini Gattinara Riserva Anniversario 6L

• If You Love Nebbiolo From Barolo, You Have to Try This Alpine Version
• "Focused and Loaded with Finesse ~95 WE
• Historical Region, Older Than Barolo
  
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About the Wine

The Travaglini family has owned land in Gattinara since the beginning of the 19th century. The vines here are some of the most spectacular in the world, overlooking the Alps. The family farmed a few hectares of land and produced wine for local consumption. The small winery started with Clemente Travaglini, who was succeeded by his son Arturo. It was not until 1958 however, when Arturo’s son, Giancarlo, established the eponymous Travaglini Estate Winery. It was Giancarlo who recognized a greater potential in Gattinara and executed groundbreaking changes in his vineyards and cellar, unseen before in the appellation. He pioneered research into improving viticultural methods, such as high-density planting, 100% hand-harvesting, and Guyot vine training; today commonly practiced throughout the Appellation. His passion for Nebbiolo helped raise the profile of Gattinara, a commitment that has been carried on through the generations.

Driven by a passion for exceptional Nebbiolo, the Travaglini family has been producing remarkable, limited-production wines from their eponymous estate in Gattinara for four generations. Gattinara plays an important role in Italian viticulture, but until a couple of decades after the turn of the century, this beautiful region of Alto Piemonte was nearly forgotten. A winemaking region older than Barolo, Gattinara covered almost 600 hectares by the end of the 1800s, making it one of the largest in Northern Europe. The phylloxera plague, coupled with a devastating hail storm in 1905, completely destroyed the region, and wine production in Gattinara was abandoned.

This small appellation lies in the rocky foothills of the Monte Rosa range, where ventilating winds blow down from the nearby Alps. Soils are rocky and rich in porphyry, granite, and iron, imparting a reddish color in the soil. Similar in composition to the Alps, Monte Rosa’s sedimentary rocks is highly acidic, due to low levels of calcium carbonate and magnesium, and an absence of calcium. Vines grown in this rare soil produce grapes with a unique flavor profile, as well as high acidity and tannins. Its northern, mountainous location experiences a continental climate, with very cold winters, warm, sunny summers, and a strong diurnal temperature shift.

If you love Nebbiolo, you must try the Nebbiolo that is grown in the foothills of the Alps. The northern versions in and around Carema and Gattinara are the most Pinot Noir-esque in that they are more refined, lighter in body, with redolent elegance.

Aging: 40 months in oak barrels. 

Tasting notes

 100% Nebbiolo. Deep garnet red color. On the nose, delicate scents of violets and cherries with traces of black pepper. Rich and refined on the palate, filled with red fruit, spice, raisins and smooth tannins; long-lasting and juicy finish. Serve with grilled or roasted meat, hearty stews and flavorful cheeses.

Critical Reviews

Focused and loaded with finesse, this wine opens with aromas of rose, wild herbs, camphor and a whiff of dark spice. The bright palate offers precision and youthful tension, delivering sour cherry, cranberry, licorice, orange rind and iron notes alongside fine-grained tannins and vibrant acidity. Drink 2021–2033. ~95 Wine Enthusiast

Pretty combination of dried leaves and tar here with fresher rose petals and orange rind. Full-bodied but compact on the palate with a vertical line of acidity and a racy finish. Linear and precise. Drink from 2023. ~94 James Suckling

The Travaglini family rules and represents Gattinara, with nearly 60% of all the vineyards in the small DOCG, located in the rocky foothills of the Monte Rosa range of northern Piemonte. Today Cinzia, great-granddaughter of Clemente, manages operations, and her husband Massimo Collauto is chief winemaker. The distinctive sloped bottle was designed to fit naturally in the hand and catches sediment during decanting. TreVigne refers to the 3 historic vineyards of the family where these vines grow. Sourced from the iron-rich reddish soils of the appellation, and up to 350m altitude, this nebbiolo fermented in stainless before 30 months in Slovenian oak casks (20% spends 10 months in French barriques) prior to blending and resting in the bottle 8 months. Ferrous veins run through this appropriately aged wine, streaking along leather, dried cherry, salted herbs, faint smoke, and dried florals. There's an earthy mushroom note that darts in and out alluringly, and makes me think of cracking this with wild mushroom braises. ~90 Gismondi on Wine

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