2022 La Ca Nova Barbaresco DOCG

"La Ca' Nova is, in my view, quite possibly the greatest Barbaresco estate most people have not heard about. Yet. The wines, from two of the very top sites in town, are magnificent."- Antonio Galloni, 2019.

Marco’s wines are regularly among the handful of highest-scoring Barbarescos that Galloni tastes, not just in classic years like 2016 or 2019 or 2021 but also in more mixed vintages like 2011, 2014, 2017, and 2018. I agree here – each year it is one of the most exciting cellar tastings in which I participate. 2022 may not be a classic vintage, but the skill of the grower and the characteristics of his impressively situated vineyards shine through. Where some other growers may have struggled in 2022, Marco has succeeded.

La Ca Nova has quietly been making outstanding, terroir-driven Barbarescos for generations from two of the appellation's top crus, Montestefano and Montefico. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect is that these polished and compelling wines are made without utilizing modern technology. There is no secret as to why these wines are quintessential expressions of Nebbiolo – it all starts in the vineyards with healthy grapes that are allowed to reach optimal ripeness.

Pietro Rocca, the family's smiling and modest patriarch, is a fourth-generation grape grower. In the early 1970s, he began making and bottling Barbarescos; before that, his family sold their grapes to the Barbaresco behemoth Angelo Gaja. Their single-vineyard bottlings come from two of the most coveted sites in Barbaresco. Montestefano produces some of the most structured Barbarescos, and the Rocca's own prime parcels are situated at 270 m above sea level with full southern exposures. Motefico, where the Roccas own the Bric Mentina vineyard, has a similar altitude, Southern and southeastern exposure, and marl soil. Local legend has it that Montefico was once owned by Domizio Cavazza, the founding father of Barbaresco.

Today Pietro is joined by his sons Marco, an enologist, and Ivan, an agronomist who tends to the vineyards. The family adopts a strictly hands-off approach in the winery, using only wild and native yeasts for fermentation. This takes place mostly in steel tanks and three wooden conical bats, but with no temperature control. Just before fermentation is complete, the family continues fermentation and maceration with the antique tradition known as steccatura, whereby wooden planks keep the cap submerged in the tank. This time-consuming method gently extracts more color and polyphenols. For La Ca Nova's single-vineyard bottlings, fermentation and maceration generally take twenty-five to thirty days. After fermentation, the Barbarescos are aged in 30-hectoliter casks, but rather than Slovenian oak, Pietro prefers Austrian oak: “They are untoasted and neutral, and are the best-quality barrels I have ever seen. In fourteen years, not one has ever leaked a drop.”

While many producers are expanding their estates and adopting modern techniques, La Ca' Nova stands as a devoted custodian of tradition. Perched atop Montestefano at the entrance to Barbaresco, their historic cascina remains virtually unchanged from over a century ago.

Aging: 18 months in 3000L oak casks