One of the charms of exploring the world of wine is to discover new wines, wines that may surprise you. Or simply wines that you didn’t know existed, but that you put on your to-drink list (better than a to-do list) when you have taste them. Erbaluce di Caluso is perhaps one of those wines for you. The region is less than half the size of the already small region of Barbaresco, only 240 hectares. Yet, it produces a wide variety of wine styles. We’ll take you on a whirlwind tour of Erbaluce di Caluso.
Piedmont is full of secrets. And I am not talking about the rare white truffle which at this time of the year hides under the wilting leaves in the soil. Nor am I talking about the famous reds. They’re no secret to anyone. Instead, I am thinking of some of the other grape varieties. They tend to be forgotten behind the superstar nebbiolo, but that’s a pity.
This is a longer version of an article published on Forbes.com.
Take for instance the red grapes dolcetto, grignolino, ruché and brachetto. Or the whites arneis, cortese and timorasso. (You can read more about timorasso wines in this BKWine Magazine article.) But today it is time for erbaluce, a little-known white wine from Piedmont that comes in many styles.
The small town Caluso, with 7000 inhabitants, is not a tourism hotspot. Guidebooks usually say “the town is close to Turin and Milan”. It’s almost on the outskirts of Turin, 35 kilometres away, just half an hour’s drive. But it is the centre of one of Italy’s DOCG wine regions, Erbaluce di Caluso.
The beauty of the region is its location, just at the foot of the hills. Or rather, the foot of the Alps. A little bit more than “hills”. Matterhorn is only some 90 kilometres straight north, one of the Alps highest peaks at 4477 metres. It was climbed for the first time in 1865 and the west face was not conquered until 1962.
Much of the vineyards of Erbaluce di Caluso is on the more modest foothills where the Alps start flattening out towards to Po Plain.
It is also close to the charmingly named national park of Gran Paradiso that once was the hunting ground for the king Victor Emmanuel II, of Barolo fame.
One reason erbaluce is so little know is that there is only between 300 and 400 hectares planted, all of it in Italy. The majority of these, 242 ha, make up the Erbaluce di Caluso appellation.
But another reason is perhaps that, on this quite small acreage, it is somewhat of a chameleon. The wine can be dry and it can be sweet, it can be still and it can be sparkling, so it can be difficult to pinpoint the grape’s and the appellation’s unique characteristics. But this diversity also means that you can find a lot of variety and find something to suit your taste.
The erbaluce grape
Erbaluce generally make a fairly light-weight and elegant wine, flowery aromas, with a fresh and crisp acidity. The almost fragile characteristics of the grapes leads to that the talented winemaker sometimes has to coax the flavours out of the grapes with judicious harvesting and careful winemaking. In some cases, less ambitiously made, the wines can be light and refreshing but lacking real personality. Better versions are deliciously refreshing. The grape always has a quite high acidity, which may be a contributing factor to that it is also used for both sparkling and sweet wines.
Some winemakers experiment with some extra skin contact or batonnage which gives wines with a different dimension, without going so far as making orange wines. Perhaps more winemakers should explore this technique. The grape has quite thick skin and becomes beautifully dark golden yellow when ripe. It can give some really interesting wines. The thick skin also helps when drying the grapes for passito.
The main region where it is used is Erbaluce di Caluso but it is also planted in some other areas of the Turin region. In total there is some 340 hectares. Most vineyards are planted using the pergola system.
DOCG Erbaluce di Caluso
Erbaluce di Caluso was promoted to DOCG (denominazione di origine controllata e garantita) some ten years ago. It covers 242 hectare, has 50 wine producers, making around one and a half million bottles a year.
There are three different versions of the DOCG that come together in this family of wines from erbaluce:
Caluso DOCG or Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG
These are the classic dry and elegant wines from erbaluce, with a distinct fresh acidity. More delicate than full-bodied, more flowery than dense.
Caluso DOCG Passito
The region has a tradition of also making sweet wines from erbaluce. This is done with the so-called “passito” technique which means that the grapes are picked and then stored in a well-ventilated drying room for three to five months. The grapes wither and the sugar in the must become more concentrated. Sometimes the grapes are affected by noble rot. The grapes are then pressed and fermented. The fermentation is slow. But since the sugar contents is so high the fermentation stops before all sugar is consumed by the yeast.
The wines are concentrated, lusciously sweet with notes of honey, apricot marmalade, candied fruit… They must be at least three years old before being put on the market (four years for “riserva”) and can age for decades.
Caluso DOCG Spumante
The sparkling version of Erbaluce di Caluso is always made with the “traditional” method, metodo classico, with the second fermentation in bottle. They are typically light and elegant refreshing sparkling wines. They are sometimes made as vintage wines which can have a lot more depth, perhaps thanks to an extended time on the lees. Some examples have 80 months or more lees-ageing before disgorging.
So, let’s dive in and give you some wineries and wines to try:
Dry white “classic” Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG
Cantina Produttore Erbaluce di Caluso, Flordighiaccio 2019: light, flowery, slightly aromatic, apples. Made with some cryomaceration to bring out more aromas.
Cantine Crosio Primavigna 2019, Erbaluce di Caluso: light, elegant, touch of perfume, good body, fresh fruit, clean.
Crosio has 9 ha of vines, 4 used for this erbaluce. They did eight days of “cold soak” of uncrushed grapes at 0.2C.
Cantina Roletto Erbaluce di Caluso 2019, Erbaluce di Caluso: very light, slightly smoky (a thouch of reduction?), flowery, high acidity with some astringency, green apples.
Roletto is the biggest private winery in the region with 60 ha of vines. It is owned by the Roletto family.
Orsolani La Rustia 2019, Erbaluce di Caluso: more body with more ripe fruit, touch of honey, yellow apples, lots of acidity.
Orsolani may be the oldest winery in the region, having been established already in the 19th century.
Cantina della Serra Ramblè 2019, Erbaluce di Caluso: light, fresh, green apples. Another tasting note on erbaluce Ramble here.
Cantina della Serra is a cooperative with 230 members, also making other wines than erbaluce. It was founded in the 1950s. A driving force in the creation of the cooperative was Adriano Olivetti, of the typewriter company, as a way to support his home region. Their oenologist-winemaker is Vittorio Garda.
Cantina della Serra Sessanta (60) 2018, Erbaluce di Caluso: light and elegant, white flower, William pears, fresh stylish fruit
Cantina della Serra Sessanta (60) 2016: more full-bodied, a slight touch of reduction and CO2 (nothing negative in that), a bit more astringent, with a dry steely finish
Cantina della Serra Sessanta (60) 2015: quite full-bodied, good structure
Cantina della Serra 2019, Erbaluce di Caluso: (no specific name for the cuvée) An experiment with some skin contact (10 days), much darker colour, a touch of “skin astringency”, yellow pears, good acidity, quite full-bodied. A nice wine with an added dimension. Another tasting note on this erbaluce here.
Azienda Agricola Cieck, Vigna Misobolo 2018, Erbaluce di Caluso: light and elegant, mineral, a single vineyard wine (Misobolo).
The Cieck winery was founded in 1985 by Remo Falconieri, mainly as a hobby, to make sparkling wine. Today, his daughter Lia Falconieri takes care of much of the business, together with their agronomist Domenico Caretto. 85% of their production is erbaluce. They also make some reds, for example from the very rare grape variety neretto. Cieck is the name of the house where it all started.
A. Cieck, “T” 2010, Erbaluce di Caluso: good body, round, quite soft, but with good acidity, very likeable, a small touch of wood in the winemaking (20% new oak for 8-9 months).
A. Cieck, “T” 2016, Erbaluce di Caluso: Quite shy on the nose but good mouthfeel and a very pleasant aftertaste with stone-fruit; light and elegant.
A. Cieck, Ingenuus 2017, Erbaluce di Caluso: quite dark colour (compared to other erbaluce), distinct touch of the skin maceration, good body, character-full, an experiment with 6 days skin maceration during fermentation and ageing in old wood. A wine “like it was before”.
Sweet white, Caluso DOCG Passito
Cantina Giacometto 2009, Caluso Passito: pretty copper colour, toffee, slightly burned notes, spicty, candied fruit, good balance
Cantina Gnavi, Revej 2007, Caluso Passito: very good balance, dried fruit, caramel, smooth, good acidity, with some refreshing tannins.
The grapes for this wine were dried for 5-6 months. Fermentation was slow, 60-70 days in cement tanks.
Azienda Agricola Cieck, Alladium 2006, Caluso Passito: more light and elegant, but with good mouthfeel, “pain d’epice” (sweet and spicy Christmas bread), dried fruit, long, intense.
The grapes are hang-dried (see picture). The wine is age in barrels for some time.
A. Cieck, Alladium 2013, Caluso Passito: fresh with good acidity, lovely fruit, good balance, fresh apricots.
Sparkling, Caluso DOCG Spumante
Cantina Briamara, Berenice, Caluso Spumante: Their sparkling is in an unusual style, slightly oxidative, bringing a different smoky dimension. Quite different from most.
Cantina Briamara has 10 ha of vines, around the small town of Cuceglio, that are exclusively dedicated to erbaluce.
Cantina della Serra Caluso, Spumante: Classic, flowery
Cantina la Masera Masilé, Caluso Spumante: light, fresh, citrusy, white flowers, touch of minerals (high acidity, dry and slightly astringent)
Azienda Agricola Cieck, Non-dosé 2016, Caluso Spumante: Aromatic, flowery, dry, good body, quite discrete aromas, but long
A. Cieck, San Giorgio 2017, Caluso Spumante: Fresh fruit, citrus, mineral (which to me means a combination of a very good level of acidity, a certain astringency, and very dry), good balance.
A. Cieck, Caliope 2016, Caluso Spumante: More body and volume, touch of honey, good length. A third of the wine fermented in oak barrels with the aim of making it more full-bodied and food-friendly.
Three more erbaluce producers to look for:
Cantine Crosio
Azienda Viticola Orsolani
Cantina Carlo Gnavi
And if you are even more of an explorer and want to discover more Piedmont secrets, try baratuciat, another white Piedmont grape variety, grown in the same area, that you might never have heard about.
