In the shadow of the Alps 

The 8 hectares of vineyards that Carlo Colombera cultivates together with his son Giacomo and Cristiano Garella are located in the three DOC appellations of Bramaterra, Lessona and Coste della Sesia, ancient wine-growing regions in northern Piedmont. The first vineyards were documented there as early as the 14th century and it is likely that Nebbiolo, the grape variety that still dominates the region today, already played a role back then.

Carlo Colombera laid the foundations for his winery in 1992 when, tired of his work in the rice fields of Vercelli at the time, he decided to buy a run-down old farmhouse and two hectares of vineyards and become a winemaker. At the same time, he gained experience with Ottilio Antoniolo, the best winegrower in the area at the time, for whom he mainly worked as a tractor driver. After his first private trials, he bottled his first vintage (Bramaterra) in 2001 and bought a few small vineyards in the neighbourhood on the side. During these years, Carlo produced earthy, honest and rustic wines that matched his personality, but lacked a little finesse and elegance. 

Giacomo & Cristiano 

This was to change when Giacomo joined the winery with his partner Cristiano Garella in 2010 after completing his studies in oenology and focussed primarily on vinification. 

While Carlo concentrated on the vineyards from then on, the two of them enthusiastically set about giving the wines their own personal signature. 

They harvested earlier, fermented spontaneously, shortened maceration times, reduced pumping over, meticulously selected their ageing containers, ditched the filters and focussed even more consistently on the time factor.  The declared aim was to let the origin speak for itself - the coolness of the zone in the shadow of the Alps was to be reflected in the wine, as were the idiosyncratic geological conditions, which in Bramaterra and Lessona are primarily characterised by a sandy, highly ferrous subsoil with extremely low pH values and in Coste della Sesia by porphyr.

Already with the first vintage (2011), they fulfilled their personal requirements admirably. However, their ever-increasing experience and knowledge of their terroir led to ever more precise and impressive results in the following years. The traditional varieties of the three zones are fermented, with Nebbiolo always playing the leading role with around 70%, assisted by Vespolina and Croatina. Each DOC is given its own interpretation, and recently there is also a first-class wine made exclusively from Vespolina.