Filippo Gallino, Canale (Piemonte)

Filippo Gallino began bottling his Roero wines with his wife Maria in 1972. Today, the 13 hectare vineyard producing around 60,000 bottles is run by daughters Laura and Enrica and son Gianni. More...

- - 'Chinche' Delicious late-harvest Arneis. more details...	£20.00 (Bottle)

Only natural treatments are used in the vineyard but, in the winery, the most advanced technology is employed to produce some of the finest wines from Piedmont's "third" district. I met Laura with her family at the IOD dinner organised by their Danish importer in October 2011. As I already knew the wines from the other producers present, I spent most of the time designated for tasting with them, getting to know them and their wines.

The range comprises a single white from Arneis, several reds from Barbera or Nebbiolo and a couple of unusual and intriguing wines. We very much enjoyed the tasty, everyday Barbera d'Alba which offers very good fruit combined with excellent acidity and couldn't resist the excellent Roero wines, especially the Due Bicchieri 2008 Sorano - a truly majestic wine, cited as offering excellent value for money in the 2013 Gambero Rosso.

There is a delicious late-harvest Arneis, "Chinche", unctuous and sweet. Best with simple desserts (or, simply, a soft Amaretti biscuit from nearby Mombaruzzo). More unusual (for us) is "Birbet", a low alcohol, sparkling red from Brachetto, a red alternative to Moscato, perhaps, recommended as aperitif or dessert wine. Certainly it refreshed the palate after an extensive tasting!

Filippo Gallino was among the first, in the early 1990s, to believe in Roero's quality and potential. Today, he and his son Gianni scrupulously - and enthusiastically - continue his philosophy of a viticulture with strong links to the territory. The vineyards are mostly located in the municipality of Canale on sandy-clay soil and are planted exclusively with the classic Roero of Nebbiolo, Arneis and Barbera. The wines produced manage to combine a precise, modern style with the irreproachable respect for the territory's unique characteristics" (Gambero Rosso 2013)

See blog: First taste    2012 visit     See also    Piedmont