Ferrando "Cascina Cariola" Erbaluce di Caluso, 2018

Technically speaking, the Canavese is part of Piedmont. Its location near the Val d'Aosta, famous for its steep terraced vineyards, imparts a distinctive quality to the wines. The Ferrandos painstakingly cultivate their Nebbiolo vineyards on the mountainside terroir of Carema, in the very shadows of Monte Bianco. The resulting wine is very different than its more famous cousins from Barolo or Barbaresco and is sought after by connoisseurs for its finesse, complexity, and longevity. Their other vineyard holdings are lower, on the plains and hills of the Banavese region (in and around the village of Caluso). Here they raise some interesting local grape varieties, and are particularly known for their Erbaluce di Caluso. Erbaluce is and ancient white grape originally form the alpine foothills of upper Piedmont. It has a bright acidity, an elegant underlying minerality, and an overall structure that makes it the ultimate flexible wine: producing everything from sparkling wine, through bone-dry, off-dry, and late harvest wines.

The Ferrando wines were the very first wines we imported to the United States back in January 1980.  This was at a time when Carema and Erbaluce were unknown to almost anyone who did not live within 50 kilometers of Torino.  It has been our particular pleasure and satisfaction to see the growing respect for these exceptional wines within the American market, further proof of the compelling, almost mystical aura that is at the core of the series of wines produced by the Ferrando family.