Bricco Ernesto
Piemonte
Location: Priocca, Roero, Piedmonte – Italy
Size: 3.0 ha
Varieties: Arneis, Nebbiolo, Barbera, Sangiovese, Bonarda
Viticulture: Organic (certified, 1990), biodynamic practices.
Vinification: Ambient yeast fermentation, aged in barrels, tanks, and amphorae.
Vino Bianco
Variety: Arneis
Size: 0.60 ha (1.48 ac) total, with only 0.30 hectares in production and another 0.30
hectares planted in 2019.
Vine Age: Planted in 2015 and 2019
Terroir: 280m altitude (one of the highest elevations in Roero). Northern exposition. 70% sand, 20% limestone-silt, and 10% clay soil.
Viticulture: Organic (certified, 1990), biodynamic practices.
Vinification: De-stemmed, short maceration on skins. 2.5-4 week ambient yeast fermentation and aging for 9 months in amphorae (50%) and larger barrels (50%).
Aged another 3 months in bottles. Complete malolactic fermentation.
Vino Rosso
Variety: Nebbiolo
Size: 2.4 ha (5.93 ac) total, with 1.0 ha of older vines in production and 1.4 hectares
planted in 2018.
Vine Age: Planted in 1950, 1999, and 2018
Terroir: 280m altitude (one of the highest elevations in Roero). Eastern, southern and western expositions. 70% sand, 20% limestone-silt, and 10% clay soil.
Viticulture: Organic (certified, 1990), biodynamic practices.
Vinification: Destemmed, not crushed. 25-30 day ambient yeast fermentation in cement tanks. Aged 12 months in a combination of barrels, bottes and amphorae.
Aged another year in bottles.
Bricco Ernesto, aka. Renato Vezza and his partner Elisa Antonioni, began in 2015.
Renato is a former sommelier which has allowed him to develop a keen sense of taste and very goal-oriented way of producing wine. Elisa is from Emilia-Romagna, fully embracing a farming life. Today, Renato Vezza is making tiny amounts of great wines from his grandfather’s vineyards. And he has a goal of making the greatest red and white wines in Italy.
His approach is straight-forward: terroir driven expressions.
Do the cleanest possible work in the vineyard and cellar. The vineyards have been well-kept and are situated on top of a hill with plenty of wind, sun, and cool nights which keep the vines very healthy. Fermentation is in cement with indigenous yeasts, and aging is done in used barriques. One of the most energetic and lively expressions of Nebbiolo coming out of Piedmont at the moment.
Bricco means rounded hilltop in the Piemontese language, and Ernesto was Renato’s grandfather – the hilltop of Ernesto. It’s one of the highest points in Roero, a domed microclimate that requires travel up a long dirt road to access. Renato says it’s all good land and good farming (always organic but Biodynamic beginning in 2022).
The Vino Rosso is 100% Nebbiolo from a collection of tiny parcels in the hills above Priocca. The cellar is small and basic, but the fermentation and aging vessels are of exceptional quality. There is a Tava amphora, open topped wooden “tino” fermenter, a handful of concrete tanks and some smaller tonneaux from names such as Stockinger.
His wines aren’t well known because only 4,000 bottles are made a year, between one Rosso (Nebbiolo) and one Bianco (Arneis), so these wines just aren’t around for everyone to taste.
