Petterino

The two brothers, Marco and Giancarlo Petterino is a tiny, and very much under-the-radar producer of the DOCG of Gattinara. With a mere 21⁄2 hectares of vineyards in total, spread out among several parcels, their production is about 1300 cases per year. Here the focus is a 100 % on the vineyards and the wine. No cool instagram account, not even a cell phone is in the possession of the Petterino brothers. We still remember Marcos first question on our first visit at the cantina, ”How did you even find us?!”

The vineyards of Petterino are located in the top Crus of Gattinara: (a region based on only 110 hectares) Permolone, Castelle and Guardie which are all southwest-facing.Viticultural and winemaking practices are uber-traditional here or as they say ‘Tutti naturale’.

Gattinara is located just west of the appellation of Ghemme, though on the opposite side of the Sesia River. Here the soils are geologically volcanic in origin, including granites polyphories, quartzes and numerous ferrous minerals which give the ground its typical reddish hue. These help to infuse an underlying base of minerality to the wines as well.
Grapes are harvested by hand and sees a long ageing process being up to 9-10 years old before they hit the market.

Petterino’s wines are classic examples of Gattinara from the northern reaches of Piedmont. Their style is elegant and aromatic showing more of the floral side of Nebbiolo (aka Spanna, as it is called in the area) as well as iron, anise and berries. The wines are approachable on release, but have an additional potential for evolution of 10-15 years. For us, this is one of the best bargains out there when comparing price against what you get in return in the bottle.