It’s Happy Hour Somewhere
You get the rare opportunity to try varietals like Vespolina grapes.
Vespolina is a rare Italian red grape found mostly in Piedmont and Lombardy.
This grape has spicy, peppery notes, softer tannins, and high acidity.
It is often blended with Nebbiolo for more complexity.
Some are single varietals.
This grape is considered the half-sibling of Nebbiolo and explains the good interactions of blending Nebbiolo and Vespolina.
I enjoyed the Torraccia del Piantavigna Ghemme at the 2026 Gamberro Rosso’s Tre Bicchieri at the Metropolitan Pavilion.
This medium-bodied wine has good balance, acidity, firm tannins, and a long finish.
This is a blend of mostly a minimum of 85% Nebbiolo grapes with 15% Vespolina grapes from the Ghemme DOCG region in Alto Northern Piedmont.
The bunches undergo more selection on a vibrating table before crushing and destemming in a gentle process. This preserves the integrity of the skins and selective extraction during the maceration process.
The alcoholic fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks with full automation and temperature control.
Once alcoholic fermentation is done, the vintage’s wine is then divided into large, medium, and small barrels for maturation. The different batches are blended in different proportions, depending on the maturation process.
The bottling is done in a protective atmosphere.
It was founded in 1997 by Alessandro Francoli of the Luigi Francoli Distillery. This was to honor his grandfather, Pierino Piantavigna.
The winery partnered with the prominent Ponti family, vinegar producers, in 2015 to manage their 40 hectares of vineyards.
The Francoli family maintains the majority shareholder. Nigel Brown is the manager of a small shareholder.
They have a seasoned team that can handle experimentation and traditional methods.
Mattia Donna, the young winemaker & enologist, studied Enology at the University of Milan under Attilio Scienza and Osvaldo Failla.
Despite his young age, Giorgio Tessiore, the technical manager, has extensive experience.
More can be found at www.torracciadelpiantavigna.it.
