Wines

Comprising 50% young-vines Nebbiolo, 40% Croatina (70-year-old maggiorina-trained), and 10% Vespolina, it is a perfect rendering of the Alto Piemonte in miniature. One senses the strict mineral discipline of Bramaterra’s volcanic rock, the savory beam of high-tension-wire fruit, and the high-toned aromatics fostered by these northerly slopes, yet its texture is supple and approachable, its structure friendly rather than imposing. Andrea employs a relatively brief 10-day maceration without excessive extraction in order to preserve the wine’s sense of freshness, with vinification occurring in stainless steel and aging taking place in large Slavonian cask for one year. The wine deftly balances serious terroir articulation and the overall impression is one of lip-smacking resonance on the palate.

“Dellamesola” is named after Andrea Mosca’s zone of Brusnengo, and is a letter-perfect exemplar of the specialness of his terroir in miniature. Comprising 80% Nebbiolo and 10% each Vespolina and Croatina from just outside the delimitation of the Bramaterra appellation, it spent one year in large Slavonian oak casks and was bottled with minimal sulfur. Open-knit yet still built around a core of pert acidity, “Dellamesola” delivers the volcanic thrust of Bramaterra on a friendlier and more immediately luscious frame, with lifted, vividly articulated dark red fruit and a subtle floral character.

This wine from young Andrea Mosca’s cellars in Brusnengo in the Alto Piemonte is much more fine than it almost should be with a true sense of terroir. In fact, this wine from a “minor” grape displays an elegance and finish that is rare at this level. It is not at all fruity but rather quite linear with a subdued but clear spice to its flavors; the tannins are strict but subtle leading to a refreshing “finale” … all in all a lovely way to further engage with the wide range of appellations and terroirs in the Alto Piemonte.

Andrea applies the same traditional approach to his Lessona as he does his Bramaterra, and the finished result highlights the enormous differences between these two terroirs. Lessona is an appellation of marine sands, which lend its Nebbiolo a silken elegance and a sense of refinement. Its tannins are no less significant than the Bramaterra, but they are more polite, more filigree—a firm handshake through a soft glove. One marvels at the authority and precision on display here. Notably, NOAH’s Lessona is 100% Nebbiolo, without any of the secondary varieties that frequently make appearances in these appellations.

Andrea Mosca’s Bramaterra comes from a sector of Brusnengo known as Mesola, a zone whose praises were sung back to the early 19th century. He works his four sites within fully manually, and the final wine blends 80% Nebbiolo with 10% Croatina, 5% Vespolina, and 5% Uva Rara, with an average vine age of 25 years. Vinified and raised in large neutral-oak casks, the staunchly traditional cellar regimen which allows this unique terroir to shine through with brilliance. Bramaterra’s hard, red volcanic porphyry yields a wine of penetrating minerality, sizzling acidity, and incredible, almost saline tension. It offers a remarkably pure nose of dusty strawberries and mountain herbs, an electrifying yet suave texture, and finely wrought, tight-grained tannins.

Named after the salt for which Brusnengo is renowned (salero means “salt cellar”), this bottling comes from a parcel situated at 300 to 350 meters of altitude, with variable expositions (east and southwest), and richer, sandier soils than those of its counterpart Rocce di Luce. Andrea’s vines in Salero — 25 years old on average — produce a wine denser and darker than Rocce di Luce, with focused, tunneling fruit accented by savory herbs and endowed with impressive concentration. A slightly higher proportion of Nebbiolo here (around 90%) amplifies the wine’s muscularity.

Rocce di Luce is Andrea’s highest-altitude vineyard: a 45-year-old planting (80% Nebbiolo with 10% Croatina, 5% Vespolina, and 5% Uva Rara) in heavily volcanic soil, exposed southward, and situated at 350 to 400 meters altitude. This cool microclimate — Rocce di Luce is typically harvested 10 to 14 days later than its counterpart Salero — produces a wine of breathtaking lift and freshness, with mouthwatering red fruits and a firm but energetic underpinning of volcanic-derived minerality.