All wines
Boris
La Palazzina
Balmi Bioti Bramaterra
2015
4.4
Region
Italy › Piedmont › Bramaterra DOC
Type
red · still
Grapes
Croatina, Uva Rara, Nebbiolo, Vespolina
Alcohol
12.5%
Volume
750 mL
Available at
Tasting Notes(3)
4.4
Speaks in the language of dried herbs and rosin - the kind of amber that bleeds out of a cherry tree - with peonies and a flicker of black tea threading through. Restrained on the nose at first, then opens into something so seamlessly blended that pulling out individual descriptors stops feeling useful; it's just composed. Still young on the palate but properly fresh and bright, and delicious to drink right now. Turned out to be Bramaterra - the iron-volcanic Alto Piemonte register reading more like a refined Burgundy than its rougher Bramaterra cousins, and that's the Casa del Bosco cuvée talking.
Tasting this wine again in such a short time confirms the same beautiful experience. It offers a perfumed and nuanced nose with delicate aromas of olives, dried herbs, black fruits, briar, and forest floor. A subtle funkiness from aging enhances the overall experience. On the palate, it is subtle, juicy, and delicious, with superb texture and acidity. This is a very charming and feminine wine. Simply beautiful.
About
Balmi Bioti is a single-vineyard Bramaterra from the Casa del Bosco hillside in Sostegno, where the soil is volcanic and run through with veins of iron-rich red clay - distinctly more volcanic than the rest of La Palazzina's Roasio land. 2015 was the inaugural release, when Paolo Montà (the current winemaker, successor to founder Leonardo) decided to keep this fruit separate rather than fold it into the estate Bramaterra. Grapes are de-stemmed and fermented spontaneously in lined concrete with regular pump-overs for about three weeks, then aged two years in large Slavonian botti before bottling without filtration and with minimal sulphites. The warm, dry 2015 Alto Piemonte season delivered a ripe, concentrated frame onto Bramaterra's usual mineral lift, with the iron-streaked volcanic soil giving the cuvée its savoury, ferrous bite.
