Ghemme Ronco al Maso, 2020

Nebbiolo, the Barolo grape, from one family's hillside in Ghemme in northern Piedmont, aged in big old casks that stay out of the way.

Ghemme is a small hill town in Alto Piemonte, Piedmont's far north, where Nebbiolo goes by its local name, Spanna. The Platinetti family have grown grapes here since the early 1900s; today Andrea Fontana makes the wine with his son Pietro. Ronco al Maso is their own cru, about 3.5 hectares of iron-rich hillside, picked by hand and aged in large old Slavonian oak casks with a light touch. Perfumed, with firm, fine tannin, turning earthy and savoury as it opens.