Borgatta

Ovada, Piemonte, Italy

‘Borgatta’ is the ancient name of the property where Emilio Oliveri and his wife Maria Luisa currently reside, and where they farm their 1.5 hectares of vines. Both in their late eighties, they do everything alone, something they have always done and continue to do to this day, They even still harvest mostly alone.

Emilio is a unique winemaker for many reasons. First, he is a rare example of someone that has dedicated his entire winemaking career to Dolcetto, a grape often found in the second or third wines of many producers in Piemonte. Whilst it typically has a reputation as an easy-going, fruity wine meant to be drunk young, the wines coming out of Emilio’s cellar couldn’t be more different. Structured, full bodied, complex, and aged in bottle for a minimum of 4 years prior to release, this is serious Dolcetto. 

 

This is a wine that shows what the grape can achieve when planted on prime soils (a combination of red clay as well as white ‘tuffo’), working with 60+ year old vines that have never seen chemicals, and treated with utmost care and respect. Emilio also makes a tiny amount of Barbera when conditions allow, a wine that is made in a similar fashion and in our opinion is up there with the great Barberas of the world.

Second, Emilio has never changed the way that he makes his wine. Since the 1960s the wines have always been made as naturally as possible, with no corrections or manipulations, always fermented with native yeasts, never fined nor filtered. Tasting through old vintages of Emilio’s is fascinating, and totally annihilates the myths that Dolcetto and Barbera can’t age with similar grace to the likes of Nebbiolo.

 

Emilio and Maria Luisa have always worked under the radar, happy to sell most of their small production to the UK and Japan. In their old age and without much interest in technology, getting themselves ‘out there’ has not really been much of a priority. It would be an absolute pity, however, for these wines not to be shared with the world. These are rustic wines ‘come si facevano una volta,’ a representation of tradition, of old methods, and of pure dedication. Wines infused with the energy of two of the kindest souls one is ever likely to meet.