Rocche Costamagna
Alessandro Locatelli, Owner
“First and foremost I produce wine that I like, and the style of the wine must respect the grapes and its terroir. I look to create wine with elegance first, and then power. The wine is made by hand and grapes are vinified separately to ensure the terroir of each vineyard parcel is preserved.”
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Rocche Costamagna - A Winery with a 200 Year Old History
One late October afternoon in La Morra, we were privileged to meet and taste wine with Alessandro Locatelli, the owner of Rocche Costamagna Winery. Our good friend – Michael Shuster of International Cellars, Rocche Costamagna’s Canadian distributor, made the introduction and urged us to visit La Morra, a beautiful hill town in Langhe, Piedmont, about 50 km from Turin in Northern Italy. The Piedmont vineyard area was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. So happy we took the advice. In a word – stunning.
Our wine tasting took place on the property that has been in the Costamagna family for almost 200 years. The building is narrow and long since it was originally built on the model of a French fortress. On the main floor tasting room we were surrounded by the history of the company. There are 100+ year-old wine bottles, hundreds of books on wine and food, awards, wine labels and other treasured artifacts. There is even a copy of an advertisement, dated 1911, for the wines showing a woman drinking red wine (considered a scandal in the day because women didn’t typically drink red wine).
We descended the original stairs to see the barrels of aging wine in the vaults of brick and stone, and then back to the main floor to taste a few signature wines.
A Family Destiny
As Alessandro shared his journey into the wine industry, it struck me that destiny brings us circumstances and opportunities that allow us to choose our path. Alessandro Locatelli is a fourth generation vintner leading Rocche Costamagna, a historical winery in Piedmont, Italy, which was founded in 1841 in La Morra by his ancestor Francesco Costamagna. How Alessandro got there was as a result of actions and decisions by family members over many decades.
After Francesco Costamagna’s death, his son, Riccardo, a lawyer in Turin and Alba, and Riccardo’s wife Maddalena managed the wine business until Riccardo died in 1930. Maddalena then sold off much of the business except for the vineyards in La Morra, from which wine was produced for the family and some grapes were sold locally. The winery closed after World War II but stayed in the family. Similar to other wineries in Piedmont at that time, it was difficult to survive.
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After my grandparents died in a car accident in the 1960's, my parents (Claudia Ferraresi (Maddalena’s niece) and Giorgio Locatelli), who both had professional careers in Turin, moved to La Morra and restarted the commercial winemaking of Rocche Costamagna. They expanded and bought new vineyards, restored the old winery and brought other ideas and innovation. My mother, a gifted artist and entrepreneur with a strong interest in gastronomy, has been instrumental in showcasing the food, wine and art in this region. (Alessandro Locatelli)
This change of course by his parents eventually led to Alessandro, who trained as an architect, choosing to take over the vineyards in the 1980’s and he and his team have furthered the innovations of his parents. He expanded and improved the vineyards, re-planting new clones from 1990-2004. Alessandro has also improved the winemaking, and he has focused on the expansion of sales of Rocche Costamagna wines internationally.
Alessandro explained that in Italy, wine is in everyone’s veins and is consumed daily. Much of the premium wine from this region however is exported. Alessandro said “Rocche Costamagna now exports about 70%of its production to four continents, principally to US, UK, Canada, Australia and increasingly to Asia”.
The Vineyards
Total winery production now reaches up to 90,000 bottles of wine per year. While many wineries in the Langhe area have 4-5 hectares of vines planted, Rocche Costamagna has 14 hectares under cultivation.
Grape varieties grown include nebbiolo, dolcetto and barbera in La Morra, and nebbiolo, barbera and arneis grapes are grown in Verduno.
Rocche Costagmagna has one of the four historic and best single vineyards in La Morra in the subzone Rocch dell'Annunziata, one of the ‘cru’ of Barolo, which has an ideal south-west facing aspect and is located at the 240 - 385 metre above sea level. The calcareous and clay soil defines the character of the wine produced from this area.
This vineyard is planted with nebbiolo and is the single vineyard source for the Barolo Rocche dell'Annunziata DOCG, as well as Barolo Bricco Francesco DOCG that is only produced in the best vintages from a small section of the vineyard location the higher and best exposed part of the hill.
Barbera d'Alba Superiore Rocche delle Rocche is also produced from a small parcel of Barbera grapes in the Verduno vineyard. According to Alessandro, the cost per hectare now for a first class vineyard is in the range of $2-3 million Euros!
Wine Quality Stands Test of Time
When asked for his thoughts on winemaking, Alessandro said, “First and foremost I produce wine that I like, and the style of the wine must respect the grapes and its terroir. I look to create wine with elegance first, and then power.
The terroir is the foundation and the wine is reflective of our team’s choices in the vineyard and in the winery. The wine is made by hand and grapes are vinified separately to ensure the terroir of each vineyard parcel is preserved.”
Rocche Costamagna’s signature is their Barolo wine, which Alessandro describes as made in the traditional method and is “rich, powerful, a pure sensation of the Nebbiolo grape and worthy of drinking many glasses”.
Recognition of the quality of Rocche Costamagna wines goes back to 1911 when Francesco Costamagna and his son Riccardo were awarded a gold medal at the “Gran Premio dell’Esposizione Internazionale di Torino” for fifty years of winemaking.
Today, Rocche Costamagna wines, particularly recent vintages of the Barolo Rocche dell’Annunziata DOCG 2013 (94 points by James Suckling) and the Riserva Bricco Francesco DOCG 2011 (93 points by Robert Parker) have received numerous awards and recognition from leading wine reviewers.
In fact, Alessandro was leaving the next day to go to Milano to accept an award for the Barolo Rocche dell’Annunziata Reserve 2012 named best Italian wines of the year by the Italian Sommelier Association.
Tasting The Wines
We tasted three wines, all of them excellent examples of the region and characteristic of the elegance of the barbera and nebbiolo grapes.
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Barbera D’Alba Superiore Rocche delle Rocche 2016
Deep ruby red, made from 100% Barbera grapes. Cherry, red fruit, spicy, vanilla, balsamic and floral notes. Smooth texture, firm tannin, and medium finish. Short maceration (1 week) at 26 degrees C, aged in French oak barrels (12 months) and bottle aged (12 months). 14.5% alcohol by volume. Produced only during exceptional vintages. Drink from 4-8 years.
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Roccardo Langhe Nebbiolo 2016
Deep ruby and garnet colour, 100% nebbiolo grapes. Red and black fruit, raspberry, white pepper, roses. Elegant. High tannin and acidity. Maceration for 7-8 days at 26 degrees C. 13% alcohol by volume. Drink from 4-6 years.
3. Barolo Rocche dell’ Annunziata 2014
Deep garnet red, 100% nebbiolo. Dried cherry, raspberry, ripe red fruit, roses, sage, chocolate, plum. Elegant. Maceration for 2 weeks at 26 degrees C, aged in Slavonian oak (medium 30-hectolitre barrels, 24 months), bottle aged (12 months). Can age for at least 15 years. Grapes from the prestigious subzone Rocche dell’Annuziata in La Morra.
Among the lineup of products produced by Rocche Costamagna that we didn’t taste, but sounded intriguing is Barolo Chinato – a digestif, produced from a base of Barolo wine, with an infusion of chinchona bark and 27 spices and herbs for 3 months and then bottle aged 3 months. Rocche Costamagna recommends its terrific paired with dark chocolate (70-80% cacao). 16.5% by volume.
Stay at Rocche Costamagna
In 2006, Rocche Costamagna renovated its farmhouse and now has accommodation for guests with four “Art Suites”, which feature Claudia Ferraresi’s artwork and stunning vistas from La Morra’s hilltop. It is often sold out, so book early! Rocche Costamagna Art Suites
If you are out of luck to find accommodation there, check out Hotel Corte Gondina, a beautiful small, boutique hotel just down the road in La Morra that we really enjoyed.
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A Must See Place to Visit
It was too brief a visit to Rocche Costamagna and La Morra. Langhe, a UNESCO designated area that has beautiful rolling hills punctuated by medieval hilltop towns like La Morra, Barolo, Serralunga d’Alba, Monforte d’Alba, Barbaresco and Nieve, just to name a few. Read more about Piedmont and Langhe area.
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