A Visit with Owner and Winemaker Gabriele Boffa at Cantina Boffa in Barbaresco, Piemonte
Day 43: October 14, 2023
Winery: Cantina Boffa, Barbaresco, Piemonte, Italy
Owner: Gabriele Boffa
I met Gabriele in Cincinnati last year at a Jungle Jim’s wine tasting. I was fortunate enough to visit with him in Piemonte this Fall. Gabriele is the owner and winemaker at Cantine Boffa, a vineyard and winery started by his great grandfather in Barbaresco, where they make a white wine from Arneis and red wines from Nebbiolo and other grapes.
Their red wines include: Dolcetto d’Alba DOC (100% Dolcetto), Barbera d’Alba DOC (100% Barbera), Langhe Nebbiolo DOC (100% Nebbiolo), and three different Barbaresco DOCGs (all 100% Nebbiolo) – Barbaresco DOCG, Barbaresco Pajé) DOCG, Barbaresco Ovello DOCG.
Gabriele gave me a tour of their cellar. Their winery is situated right in the middle of the historic Barbaresco town, and has a beautiful patio that overlooks the winery down below in the valley. Checkout the video below where Gabriele talks about his wine making process.
Some Basics about Piemonte:
The Tanaro River runs east to west in Piemonte. Southeast of the river is the Langhe wine region, where Dolcetto DOCG, Barbaresco DOCG and Barolo DOCG are situated. On the other side of the river (Northwest) is the Roero DOCG region. In Roero, primarily, the white grape Arneis is grown, along with a small amount of Nebbiolo. In Langhe, the primary grapes are Nebbiolo, Barbera, Dolcetto and Merlot. White varieties such as Arneis, Chardonnay and Freisa are also grown in small quantities.
The communes of the Barbaresco DOCG region are: Barbaresco, Neive, Trieso and San Rocco.
The communes of the Barolo DOCG region are: Barolo, Castiglione Falletto, La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Verduno, Novello, Diano d’Alba, Cherasco, Serralunga d’Alba, Grinzane Cavour, Roddi.
To meet the criteria of a Barbaresco DOCG, the grapes must come from one of the four Barbaresco communes and must comprise of 100% Nebbiolo grapes. In addition to wines made from single vineyards, a Barbaresco DOCG can also be made with grapes from different vineyards. The wine must be aged for a minimum of 3 years. A minimum of nine of those months has to be in oak barrels (although most wineries age their wines for longer periods in oak). The remainder of the aging process can occur in oak or bottles.
Gabriele prefers to use Slovenian oak which doesn’t add a lot of vanilla tones or sweetness to the wine. The barrels are very lightly toasted, again, because he wants the full expression of the Nebbiolo grape to come through in his wines, without being influenced by the oak. He produces three Barbaresco wines: an entry level wine that is ages for 9 months in oak, and two other wines that are aged for 18 months (Barbaresco Pajé) and 24 months (Barbaresco Ovello).