Small is never a word to use when describing any wine made from the Nebbiolo grape but it does fit for a wine from Carema DOC, one of the smallest areas devoted to Nebbiolo in north west Italy. And the 2019 Cantina Produttori Nebbiolo di Carema is one of greatest wines to pass my lips so far this year. Not that it is small in taste or lacks for flavour (far from it) but the volumes made are minuscule compared to other regions. So much so that Italian writer Cesare Pillon once wrote "As a great Nebbiolo from northern Piedmont, Carema has only one fault: in good years only 55 thousand bottles are produced. It is not well-known, and neither is the village it gets its name from: Carema."

Perhaps being not so well known is a good thing in this case because it means there is a little available to come to New Zealand. This month we have had the joy of putting our first Carema on the northern Italian wine shelf at Regional Wines & Spirits. At least, it is the first Carema we have stocked in the past eight years, if not even longer. 

We hope you enjoy it as much as our team of wine devotees has. 

New Nebbiolo in store

2019 Cantina Produttori Nebbiolo di Carema RRP $53.99

This is an outstanding savoury expression of Nebbiolo from the mountainous village of Carema, bordering Valle d'Aosta in north west Italy. Red fruit notes underpin the powerful but silky tannins and the long spicy finish is complex, rewarding and sensationally statuesque. A commanding wine. 

About this wine

The producer is a quality focussed wine cooperative, which makes sense, given that Carema is a small village and the area can only produce limited volumes of Nebbiolo each year. 

Cantina dei Produttori Nebbiolo di Carema is renowned for producing excellent wines and this is an excellent example.

Carema was one of first wines from Piedmont to attain Controlled Designation of Origin status when it was awarded DOC in July 1967.