100% Prünent from Alto Piemonte. Prünent is an ancient parent clone of Nebbiolo. Its presence in Ossola was first documented in 1309.
Prünent vines were abandoned for centuries until the 90s when Cantine Garrone with the help of local cooperatives started the recovery of this hidden gem.
Ruby in colour with a complex aroma of flora & vanilla this rendition ages 12 months in small small oak barrels (half new, half used) before spending at least one year in bottle before release. It has wonderful structure and savory, velvety tannins making it a lovely example of a true mountain wine. Pair it with hearty main dishes: roasted meats, wild game or aged cheeses.
There is no use of chemical soil fertilisers and chemical plant protection is kept to a minimum. 5000 bottles from century old vines.
Why have we selected this wine?
Vineria main goal is to discover exciting wine from lesser know (sometimes secret) wine areas. This wine is mirroring our mission.
DNA analysis on this wine grapes confirms it is the most ancient Nebbiolo on Earth. Vineyards are on average hundreds of years old and grow high up the mountain-sides.
The vines were originally planted on the southern slopes of the mountainside because the sandy damp soil of the valley floor is not well suited for agriculture, while the mountainous microclimate, mitigated by the nearby lake district, created an ideal wine growing environment with its day and night temperature variance offering a desirably slow maturation of the grapes and enriching the wine with extraordinary aromas. The vineyards are on small terraced plots, the majority of which are still grown in the traditional “toppia” or pergola system supported by ancient stone columns.
The intensive labor required for wine cultivation has only been carried forward thanks to the local farmers who continued to produce wine for personal use for all of those years, and who now bring the grapes to the Cantine.
Cantine Garrone
Cantine Garrone hails from the heart of one of the wildest and most secluded Alpine valleys of extreme Northern Piemonte, right near the Sempione Pass on the border with Switzerland, called the VAL D'OSSOLA ('Ossolanum' as the Romans used to call it, meaning "high ground").
Family owned and operated for generations, Cantine Garrone acts as the only cooperative winemaking and commercialising facility for the myriad of mountain grape growers that are scattered throughout the steep slopes of this rugged and untamed territory. Here, the history and uniqueness of wine is more ancient than ancient Rome.
The local association of agricultural growers (about 60) teamed with Cantine Garrone in the 90's to begin a recovery and clean-up of these very old local vineyards and restart the production of a hallmark historical wine that spurred the introduction by the Italian government of the 'Valli Ossolane' DOC appellation in 2009, making it the absolute most northern and Alpine denomination of Piemonte.