E Pira et Figli -Chiara Boscis, Barolo
This winery dates to the 1799s and is headed up by a woman, Chiara Boscis, which is unusual in most wine regions, but particularly in the older, traditional regions of the old world, such as here.
It was owned by a Sardinian family, the Pira, who sold to Chiara’s parents, one condition being that their name persisted. Chiara herself took over in the early 1990s.
The production is small here – around 30,000 bottles from some 10 hectares of land. The harvest is done by hand to preserve quality. They have one vineyard on the famous hill of Cannubi (one of the greatest ‘crus’ of Barolo), plus in Terlo and Liste.
According to our guide, Nicoletta, Chiara was the first to introduce organic winemaking to the area and persuaded some 26 other makers in Serralunga to follow suit; making wine organically is rather difficult if you have a small plot surrounding by others working non-organically and spraying pesticides and so on that may alight on your grapes.
They make three Barolos – a Cannubi, a Mosconi and a blend. In addition, they make a Dolcetto d’Alba, a Langhe Nebbiolo and a Barbera d’Alba Superiore aged in wood.
The Cannubi vineyard has a good deal of sand – perhaps 5-6m in depth, whereas Mosconi has more clay. Vineyards are very steep – in really bad weather, all work stops, as the tractors simply tip over in the field.
A visit to the winery itself revealed firstly the rotary fermenters used for all the production, with Dolcetto typically needing 7 days, Barbera 10 and Nebbiolo 15, with pump over happening once a day. The resulting skins post-fermentation are sold to others to make grappa – an excellent example of minimising waste.
The export market is mostly the UK and US. China is an emreging market for Chiara Boscis too, although Chinese rules and regulations make this quite challenging.
Ageing is done in French oak. For Cannubi, larger botti are used, whereas for Mosconi, small barriques. The blend uses a mixture of both.
1. Dolcetto d’Alba. 2017. €9.5.
Appearance: Purple hue.
Nose: Bright raspberry.
Palate: Grippy tannins, with flavours of sharp raspberry, and a short finish.
Mole rating: (3) Good.
2. Barbera d’Alba. 2016. 15.5%. €16.
Aged one year in barriques.
Appearance: Dark purple.
Nose: Black fruit, with a lick of vanilla.
Palate: A palate of bitter black cherry and a clean finish.
Mole rating: (4) Very good.
3. Langhe Nebbiolo. 2016. €19.
Appearance: Pale red with a garnet edge.
Nose: Sweet red fruit, particularly strawberry.
Palate: A juicy ripe palate of cherry, with crisp acidity and moderate tannin, and a medium finish.
Mole rating: (4) Very good.
4. Barolo ‘Mosconi’. 2014. €58.
Appearance: Pale red with a garnet edge, but a little more intense than the Langhe.
Nose: An elegant dark fruit nose, with violet and black cherry.
Palate: A full bodied palate. Black cherry, sweet cherry, plum jam and clove. A long finish with dry crisp cherry. A wine to drink in perhaps 10 years to see it at its best.
Mole rating: (5) Outstanding.