Paride Chiovini, Ghemme DOCG (2017) – Piemonte

£44.00

Nebbiolo from one small Ghemme vineyard in Alto Piemonte, aged in French oak and made for slow dinners.

Ghemme is Alto Piemonte's quiet heavyweight, and the first records of it go back to Roman times. This bottle comes from a tiny 0.3-hectare plot in the town itself, and it has the chocolate-and-tobacco depth of a serious Nebbiolo with softer, rounder tannins than you'd find in the Langhe. Open it when the meal is a stew.

THE GRAPE
100% Nebbiolo, which Novara locals call Spanna, grown in Ghemme on a south-south-west-facing slope. The soil is clay and sand with an acidic reaction, and the yield is kept low at around 70 quintals per hectare. Grapes are picked by hand into small crates in mid-October.

THE WINE
Red vinification in steel with about 20 days on the skins, and pump-overs every eight hours to draw out colour and structure. Malolactic fermentation happens in steel, then the wine spends four months there before moving to 5-hectolitre French Allier oak tonneaux for 18 to 20 months. It rests in bottle for at least six months before release. The result is ruby with garnet edges, with intense raspberry and sour cherry, then chocolate, tobacco and, on the producer's account, violet and rose. The palate is full and enveloping, with soft, balanced tannins and a dry finish. It keeps improving for the first 8 to 10 years.

FOOD PAIRING
Rich ragù pasta, brasato cooked in Ghemme, roast red meats, game birds in salmì, aged cheeses. Serve at 18–20°C, and give it a decant.

THE WINEMAKER
Paride Chiovini has been making wine in Sizzano since 1997, in the Colline Novaresi of Alto Piemonte, and is the reference point for the historic Sizzano DOC. In 2021 the estate became a new company with Maria Elena Randetti, aiming to grow its DOC and DOCG wines. The vineyards between Sizzano and Ghemme are planted to local varieties: Nebbiolo, Vespolina (Ughetta) and Uva Rara (Bonarda Novarese), each vinified separately. Piedmontese oenologist Maurizio Forgia advises on the winemaking. The wines carry the names of Greek gods and heroes, echoing Paride's own name. In 2022 the estate earned three stars as a classified producer.