Description
This is a fantastic bottling from the oldest and best situated Croatina vines (upper steep terraces) in the Montalbano-Castella vineyeards, over 100+ years old. Antonio sort of made a linguistic boob calling this bottling the Croatina, because its name is actually called Le Piane, even though it made with a majority of Croatina (with a smidge of Vespolina, Nebbiolo, and a few other local indigenous varieties). This year’s sounds like an absolute knockout, based on Antonio’s review…..
“We have discovered the forgotten richness of the local Croatina grape. We undertook the challenging task of selecting grapes from the best very old vineyards, of up to 100 years old, on high hill sides (500m) around the Montalbano, Traversagna and Santuario areas to develop a wine with tremendous character. This wine is aged in tonneaux and large wooden barrels for 2 years. As our contribution to the new interpretation and refining of the traditional grape variety in Boca, we christened the winegrowing estate “Le Piane”. The wine is very concentrated and shows notes of blackberry, cherry, tobacco and spices. The dense substance gives a velvety and mineral finish. A wine which can refine in bottles for up to 10 years.” -Christoph
“The 2018 Piane, the estate’s old-vine Croatina/Vespolina field blend, is a huge, inky wine. Blueberry, espresso, lavender, mint and dark spice all flesh out in a potent, layered Alto Piemonte red endowed with tremendous depth and sheer intensity. The 2018 is quite the powerhouse. It is also exquisitely beautiful and vivid from the very first taste. A wine that speaks with gravitas, the 2018 Piane is a must have for fans of the estate.” 94 Antonio Galloni
