EDOARDO PATRONE

PIEMONTE

mucci imports edoardo patrone
mucci imports edoardo patrone

The unexpected visit to meet Edoardo and his wife Stella in early 2019 was arguable the most surprising and rewarding winery visit of the year for Kelsey & I. First off, Kelsey was six months pregnant and thus we were trying to keep things simple and not push the envelope (which is not easy for me to do). Edoardo had come across my plate when researching the extremely unknown production area of Domodossola, essentially on the Swiss border.

Moreso than anything else I wanted to take a drive to an area I’ve yet to explore. Kelsey was feeling up for it after a lovely visit to the gardens at the Villa Taranto on Lago Maggiore about a half hour from Domodossola. I called Edoardo that morning and said I’d love to meet him and learn more about what he’s doing.

We arrived around 4:00 to a world surrounded by mountains where heroic winemaking is on full display. There we were happily greeted by Edoardo and Stella whose tiny winery was built into (ask edoardo to remind me what that building was before) the mountainside with a half a hectare of vines hanging on for dear life.

Edoardo started making wine in 2016 after a few harvests in Australia and four years in Barolo learning how to make wine. It was his time in Australia that gave him time to reflect on just how lucky he was to be from such a unique winemaking region. His time there, along with the encouragement of Stella who he met while living abroad, is all he needed to take the leap.

Amazingly Domodossola and the the Ossola valley have 700 years of winemaking history but yet at present there are just one or two other wineries making wine commercially – most of which is produced by those who come to stay here in the moutains at the various agriturismi for a few days. Edoardo’s jaunt into serious, natural winemaking is something unique to the valley.

His approach is one that I respect greatly as he plans to work with the varietals that have always been grown here, which is insists include Merlot, as well as Prunent – a Nebbiolo biotype – grown here for centuries, Barbera, Dolcetto, Vespolina, and the list goes on. In fact, his blend PSP is a celebration of this grape diversity as it’s a field blend of up to 13 grapes. The vineyard this comes from (confirm age) has been planted this way forever and thus Edoardo wanted to leave things the way they are.

Edoardo is a smart kid and based on the fact that he’s studied winemaking and worked around the globe (particularly in Australia where you could argue wine is maybe made more in the cellar than the vineyard) he is making wines the old fashioned “natural” way w/ a hand from modern technology. He believes in temperature controlled fermentations and swears by a piedi cuve as far as a native yeast starter. He also keeps a careful eye on the wines and is not afraid to rack when necessary, often an excuse in natural winemaking that can yield defects.

mucci imports edoardo patrone
mucci imports edoardo patrone

The Ossola valley is one where vineyards lie at an average of about 500 meters, surrounded by stunning mountains. It is located almost an hour North of the villages of Alto Piemonte like Ghemme, Boca etc. The weather is much more extreme in comparison. The biggest difference is that in the Alto Piemonte villages cold air can just pass through whereas in the Ossola valley it gets stuck in between all the large peaks (some as high as 2,000 meters).

The typical training method is called “Topia” a type of pergola system that spring from terraces built into the mountainsides. This pergola keeps grapes out of reach of animals, which run wild in the part of Italy. It also helps limit the affects of frost on many of the grapes grown here. In Edoardo’s mind this is the best training system for Nebbiolo. Given the amount of snow here, even on warm vintages, there is generally plenty of water. In fact, Edoardo stressed how much water plays an important role for the valley and it’s one of their most important local currencies.

I admire Edoardo’s project most for work he is doing to maintain many old vineyards in the valley that were otherwise going to be left for dead. As I noted there is one principle producer in town and from what Edoardo calculates, upwards of 75 independent farmers who sell fruit to this producer. The majority of these farmers are tending to a quarter of a hectare or less with obviously limited financial reward for doing so. Many of these folks are getting up in their years and thus are beginning to consider abandoning their vineyards and the next generations in their families have little desire to do the hard work necessary to keep things going. Enter Edoardo who is either purchasing or renting these vineyards, most of which are 50+ years old, from these farmers.

In fact, the first vineyard he came into comes from a trip he took to the bank in town to get financing for his project. That morning, an older gentleman came into the bank frantically asking for help as his wife was on his case to sell his vineyards or just get it over with and rip up his vines. He was asking the bank to help him find a buyer and low and behold 4 hours later Edoardo walked into his first vineyard in the Valle d’Ossola.

In total there are 7 different sites throughout the valley with different expositions and different varietals. One vineard was home to 20 different grape varietals on only about a quarter hectare. The wines Edoardo makes are made to maintain this history!

Basin is a unique sparkling rose wine bottle from Edoardo Patrone

Basin

Varietals: A field blend of 12 different local varietals

NOTES

Basin is a fun, refreshing and sophisticated all rolled into one. It’s a field blend from old, terraced vineyards in the Ossola valley. Which is essentially the alps! The bubbles are fine and elegant from the Charmat method. It’s plenty fruit with notes of red currant, wild strawberries and raspberry.

This wine is pretty easy drinking so consider this a great aperitivo wine. With its bubbles and acidity this wine is really begging for a spread of meats and cheese.

The are essentially two harvests where all 12 varieties are picked. There is a selection on the vine of the best clusters. The wine then does a cryo-maceration prior to fermentation to maintain color and delicate aromas. Fermenation then occurs naturally in stainless steel. The secondary fermentation occurs in “autoclave” for the Charmat lungo method, which takes around 60 days.

Edoardo Patrone Testa Rusa

Testa Rusa

Varietal : Merlot 50%, Nebbiolo 50%

NOTES

This wine is named “red head’ for Edoardo’s friend who helps him to harvest this vineyard. It’s got plenty of fire like his red headed pal with plenty of structure, a touch of tannin from the Nebbiolo and plenty of depth. This is a rose for those who want  wine to go with their meal!

This is rose with structure, thus a food wine. It’s great with finger food and can stand up to grilled fish, like striped bass, or grilled chicken. The wines acidity makes it a great pairing to a fresh summery pasta with fresh heirloom or cherry tomatoes.

This a a product of 3 hours of skin contact before fermentation. It will ferment on native yeasts in stainless steel under temperature control. Temp. control assures Edoardo that he will extract what he wants aromatically. The wine then ages in stainlees steel with three months on the lees before being removed. It is bottled in April.

Edoardo Patrone PSB Podere San Brizio

PSB

Podere San Brizio (patron saint of Domodossola)

Varietal : Merlot 15%, Nebbiolo 15%, 12 different grapes 70%

NOTES

This is Edoardo’s true field blend coming from a mix of 3 different sites that Edoardo has helped maintain. It’s a good portion of Nebbiolo and Merot w/ Vespolina, Uva Rara, Rosolina, Negrun, Dolcetto..and the list goes on. His objective is for this wine to be a collection of fruit from these vineyards just the way he found them. It feels like a true alpine wine with some tart, bright fruit and a smooth, easy drinking texture.

This is a natural salumi wine for sure but I’ve also really enjoyed it with pastas with meat sauces, grilled meats and even spicier fare like indian as the tannins are limited.

There are two separate harvests with Merlot & Dolcetto being the drivers for pick dates. He collects whatever fruit is nearly ripe around these two points, which can be 2/3 weeks apart. He ferments each picking group separately on native yeasts in stainless steel. He does control the temperature in the tank, but often may not need to given how cold it can be outside here already in September.

The two separate harvests eventually come together in stainless steel and age there for close to 8 months before bottling. He uses a paper filter to filter out larger solids.

Wine bottle photograph Lepontinum from Edoardo Patrone

Lepontinum

Varietal : Merlot 100%

NOTES

Lepontinum is the name given to this area by the Romans. This is truly explosive Merlot with beautiful fruit and smooth texture. There is plenty of red fruit, black pepper and earth. It’s a mountain wine that through the years Edoardo has done a wonderful job of taming.

This wine has the ability to pair well with local cheeses like Toma. It would also work well with chicken cacciatore and red meat. Throw a fatty dish at this and you will be happy!

The wine spends 12 days on skins in stainless steel. On day 5 the grapes seeds are removed to maintain the wines soft tannins. Both primary and malolactic fermentation occur in the fermentation vessel before it will be moved to another stainless steel vessel to age. It spends 4 months on the fine lees, with frequent battonage. Eventually it will be bottled and age 4 months in bottle before release.

A bold foil embossed wine bottle label for Vigna Vagna from Edoardo Patrone

Vigna Vagna

Varietal : Merlot 50%, Nebbiolo 50%

NOTES

Edoardo makes wine in a very difficult, extreme climate. The Vigna Vagna is a blend of Prunent, the historical varietal of his valley with Merlot, a grape with it’s own long history in this part of Northern Piedmont. Recent iterations yield wines with bigger, rounder fruit and tannins to match.

Aged cheeses, risotto with mushrooms, truffles, braised meat.

This wine spends 20 days on skins, the temperatures vary from 26/30° C to facilitate the extraction color. Separation of the grape seeds on the fifth day to maintain the wine’s soft tannins. Malolactic fermentation occurs naturally at the end of alcoholic fermentation. Aging in 15 HL Slavonian oak casks for 6 months on the fine lees.

mucci imports edoardo patrone

Prunent Stella

Varietal : Prunent 100%

NOTES

Named for Edoardo’s wife Stella this is a really unique expression of Nebbiolo, or the local biotype Prunent. We are almost 45 minutes north of Alto Piemonte and truly surrounded by mountains so you won’t get the tannin you get from Ghemme or Boca but more freshness and fruit like you’d expect from a great Langhe Nebbiolo. The Nebbiolo here is maybe more about Cranberry and tart fruit than the Raspberries and Strawberries one might be used to.

Roast duck or leg of lamb.

This is the fruit Edoardo will pick as the days start getting colder and shorter. This wine undergoes a partial carbonic maceration (a trick he learned in Australia) where the first third of the tank is filled with whole clusters and all and the rest of the destemmed fruit is thrown on top of it in the fermentation tank. This ferments on native yeasts with pump over up until a few days before fermentation ends.

This wine ages for 6 months in Austrian Oak with a portion also in steel. It is not filtered before bottling.

Visit Edoardo Patrone’s Webiste
(It’s in English!)

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