Italy · Alto Piemonte

Azienda Agricola Carlone Davide

Organic Boca DOC estate on volcanic porphyry in Alto Piemonte, farming 11 hectares of Nebbiolo, Croatina, Vespolina, and Erbaluce since the early 1990s; one of the key figures in the appellation's revival.

The producer

Davide Carlone farms 11 hectares of south-facing vineyard in Grignasco, a village in the Novara province of Alto Piemonte, within the Boca DOC appellation at the alpine foothills of northern Italy. The family's winemaking roots in this territory go back to the 1880s. Davide, born in 1968, spent his early years working alongside his grandfather Carlo in the vineyard and cellar, and started his own estate around 1991 from 3,500 square metres on volcanic hillside that had been abandoned for years. His sister Michela has been his working partner from that first season.

The estate farms organically throughout: no herbicides, no synthetic inputs, mechanical weed control, local wood and stone for vine supports. Grapes are hand-harvested and fermented with indigenous yeasts. Boca DOC wines age in large Slavonian oak botti; single-varietal Croatina, Vespolina, and Erbaluce age in stainless steel. The flagship Boca Adele blends 75 percent Nebbiolo with 25 percent Vespolina, grown on porphyry soils from the ancient Valsesia Supervolcano, and is built to age for twenty years or more.

Known for

Boca DOC, Nebbiolo-Vespolina blends, volcanic porphyry terroir

Notable facts

The story

The Grandfather's Cantina

Before Davide Carlone planted his first vines, his grandfather Carlo kept a cantina in the village of Valduggia where customers arrived on foot or by cart carrying their own botti to fill from the barrel. Production was small enough that most of what Carlo made never left the village. Davide worked alongside him throughout his childhood and early teenage years, learning the work by doing it, harvest after harvest, until he was sixteen. When he launched his own estate around 1991, beginning with a patch of 3,500 square metres on volcanic hillside that nobody else was farming, the Boca appellation around him had already shrunk from roughly 40,000 post-war hectares to barely three that were still commercially active. The bulk-cantina arrangement his grandfather had practised, customers supplying their own containers, wine moving a few kilometres at most, had largely disappeared. Every bottle the estate produces today carries the Carlone name on the label.

From the atlas

Azienda Agricola Carlone Davide

At A Glance

Producer: Azienda Agricola Carlone Davide Location: Grignasco, Novara, Alto Piemonte, Italy Appellation: Boca DOC Primary Grapes: Nebbiolo (Spanna), Croatina, Vespolina, Erbaluce Farming: Organic, no herbicides, wild yeast fermentations Output: Approximately 40,000 bottles per year

The Producer

Davide Carlone farms 11 hectares of south-facing vineyard in the village of Grignasco, in the Novara province of Alto Piemonte, at the alpine foothills of northern Italy. His estate sits within the Boca DOC appellation, one of the oldest red wine zones in Piedmont, built on Nebbiolo blended with Croatina and Vespolina. The family's winemaking roots in this part of Alto Piemonte go back to the 1880s, through the Teruggi and Zanolini lines. Davide, born in 1968, spent his early years working alongside his grandfather Carlo in the vineyard and cellar, and started his own estate around 1991 from 3,500 square metres of vines. His sister Michela has been his working partner from that first season. Together they have built one of the estates most associated with the contemporary revival of Boca DOC.

The estate's flagship is the Boca Adele, a selection of the finest parcels composed of 75 percent Nebbiolo and 25 percent Vespolina, built to age for twenty years or more.

Place

Boca DOC occupies a narrow band of hillside in Alto Piemonte, the northern arc of Piedmont that stretches between the Apennines and the Alps. The appellation sits at genuine altitude: Carlone's vineyards run from 380 to 450 metres on slopes that face south and southwest, giving the Nebbiolo here a slower, cooler ripening season than the Nebbiolo of Barolo or Barbaresco to the south. That elevation shows in the wine: higher acidity, firmer tannin, and a cooler aromatic register than the Langhe.

Boca was once substantial. After World War II the appellation covered roughly 40,000 hectares. By the time Davide Carlone planted his first vines, fewer than three hectares were still farmed commercially. The vineyards had been abandoned as the population moved to the industrial cities. The Boca that Carlone entered in the early 1990s was an appellation on paper with almost no wine.

Soil And Site

The vineyards at Carlone grow on volcanic porphyry, the geological legacy of the Valsesia Supervolcano, an ancient formation whose eruptions shaped the subsoil across this part of Alto Piemonte. Monte Fenera Natural Park borders the estate; the park preserves geological evidence of the supervolcano alongside Neanderthal archaeological remains. Porphyry is dense and slow to drain, producing Nebbiolo with a mineral grip and firm tannin architecture that differs from the limestone and clay of the Langhe. The estate calls its wines "sons of fire" in reference to this volcanic origin.

The south-facing aspect at altitude concentrates heat during the day while cool alpine air at night slows ripening and locks in acidity.

Story

The Carlone family sold wine as far back as the 1880s, though by the time Davide grew up, the family operation was small and the regional landscape was already emptying out. His grandfather Carlo farmed a tiny parcel and kept a cantina where neighbours filled their own containers from the barrel. Davide worked alongside him after school and through harvest, learning by proximity rather than any formal training.

When Davide started his own estate around 1991, he was entering an appellation that had already collapsed. He began restoring abandoned parcels on volcanic hillside that nobody had farmed for decades, converting what he found to organic viticulture: no herbicides, no synthetic inputs, mechanical weed control, local wood and stone for supports, willow ties. The work was slow. The vines planted in those first years have now had more than thirty seasons to settle into the porphyry soils.

His sister Michela joined the effort from the start. The estate works with oenologist Emiliano Falsini, and a portion of Carlone's fruit is sold to Le Piane, another Boca producer working the same territory.

Vineyards And Cellar

Carlone farms organically throughout, with no herbicides and no synthetic fertilizers. Weed control is mechanical. Vine supports are made from local wood and stone; willow ties replace plastic. The only conventional inputs are copper and sulfur, both permitted under organic protocols.

In the cellar, grapes are hand-harvested and fermented with indigenous yeasts, without added commercial strains. Nebbiolo for the Boca wines is fully destemmed and left on the skins for around a month, building colour, tannin, and aromatic depth. Vespolina for the single-varietal bottling has fourteen to eighteen days of skin contact, producing a wine with more immediate fruit and softer grip. The Boca DOC wines age in large Slavonian oak botti: old casks, large volume, slow oxygen exchange, no new oak flavour. The single-varietal wines, Croatina, Vespolina, and Erbaluce, age in stainless steel, keeping them leaner and closer to the grape character.

Wines

The range has two tiers within Boca DOC and a supporting set of single-varietal bottles.

The Boca is the estate-level bottling: Nebbiolo blended with Croatina and Vespolina in proportions that shift slightly by vintage, fermented with wild yeasts and aged in large oak botti. It has the firm tannin and high acidity typical of Nebbiolo from volcanic soil at altitude, with red fruit, dried flowers, and a long, dry finish.

The Boca Adele is a selection of the finest parcels within the estate, composed of 75 percent Nebbiolo and 25 percent Vespolina. The Vespolina contributes a floral lift and brighter acidity alongside the Nebbiolo's frame. Both grapes ferment together with indigenous yeasts; the wine ages in large Slavonian botti and is released with a projected window of around twenty years from vintage. The 2020 received 92 points from Vinous. It has more depth and amplitude than the estate Boca, with tighter tannin at release that softens over years in bottle.

The single-varietal wines give access to the estate's supporting grapes in isolation. Croatina, a thick-skinned red variety of the north, appears as a lighter, more immediately fruity red aged in steel. Vespolina, which plays a structural role in the Boca blend, shows its floral, aromatic character and softer grip when vinified alone. Erbaluce, the white variety native to northern Piedmont, is also vinified in steel: lean, high in acidity, and aromatic.

In The Glass

The Boca DOC wines open with sour cherry, dried rose petal, and cranberry, with a cool undercurrent of white pepper and dried licorice root that comes from the Nebbiolo's long skin contact and the volcanic soil. In the mouth, the tannins are firm and granular, the kind that grip the gums rather than coat the tongue. Acidity is high and persistent, running through the mid-palate and keeping the fruit from going soft. The finish is dry and long.

The Adele has more concentration in the mid-palate, a denser fruit core, and tannins that take longer to open. The Vespolina adds a violet note to the nose and a thread of brightness through the acidity that lifts the whole wine. At release, it needs time: five to eight years of cellar age before the tannins loosen enough to let the fruit show clearly. At full maturity, it is one of the more complex expressions of Nebbiolo in Alto Piemonte.

The single varietals sit in a different register. The Erbaluce is dry, high-acid, and mineral, with citrus and herbal character and no oak weight. The Vespolina and Croatina in steel are red-fruited, lightly tannic, and made for earlier drinking.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the Boca Adele. It is 75 percent Nebbiolo and 25 percent Vespolina, grown on volcanic porphyry between 380 and 450 metres, fermented with indigenous yeasts, and aged in large old Slavonian oak botti. No new oak, no added aromatic weight. The wine carries sour cherry, dried rose, white pepper, and cranberry, with firm granular tannins and a high, persistent acidity that keeps the finish clean and long. The 2020 vintage received 92 points from Vinous. It will drink better with five or more years of additional cellaring, but even now it shows what volcanic-soil Nebbiolo at altitude does differently from the Langhe: leaner, cooler in fruit, firmer in grip, and built for the long term.

Anecdote

Before Davide Carlone planted his first vines, his grandfather Carlo kept a cantina in the village of Valduggia where customers arrived on foot or by cart carrying their own botti to fill from the barrel. Production was small enough that most of what Carlo made never left the village. Davide worked alongside him throughout his childhood and early teenage years, learning the work by doing it, harvest after harvest, until he was sixteen. When he launched his own estate around 1991, beginning with a patch of 3,500 square metres on volcanic hillside that nobody else was farming, the Boca appellation around him had already shrunk from roughly 40,000 post-war hectares to barely three that were still commercially active. The bulk-cantina arrangement his grandfather had practised, customers supplying their own containers, wine moving a few kilometres at most, had largely disappeared. Every bottle the estate produces today carries the Carlone name on the label.

Final Word

Carlone's wines are a direct product of a specific decision: to restore abandoned vineyard on volcanic porphyry in an appellation that had nearly ceased to exist, and to farm it without shortcuts. Boca DOC is still a small appellation with a short modern track record. The Adele is the bottle to reach for, and it rewards patience. The single varietals show the supporting cast in their own right. The geology here is unlike anywhere else in Piedmont, and the wines taste like it.

Sources

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