Italy · Alto Piemonte

Azienda Vitivinicola Nervi

Gattinara's oldest estate, now under Roberto Conterno, farming 28.5 hectares of Nebbiolo on volcanic porphyry in Alto Piemonte.

The producer

Nervi Conterno farms 28.5 hectares of Nebbiolo in Gattinara, a small DOCG appellation in Alto Piemonte roughly 80 kilometres north of Barolo. The estate produces three wines from volcanic porphyry and mineral-rich clay soils that pull Nebbiolo toward high natural acidity, saline lift, and a mineral quality rarely found in the Langhe. The two single-vineyard crus, Molsino and Valferana, take their names from parcels documented in Gattinara's town archives since 1471 and 1231 respectively.

Roberto Conterno, who runs Giacomo Conterno in Barolo, acquired 90 percent of Nervi in April 2018 and became sole owner in 2022. He broke ground on a complete cellar rebuild eight months after purchase, finished the project in January 2022, and applies to Gattinara Nebbiolo the same approach that defines the Giacomo Conterno wines: hand-harvesting, a minimum 15-day post-alcoholic maceration, and 30 months in large oak casks.

Known for

Single-vineyard Gattinara DOCG from Nebbiolo on volcanic porphyry, with long maceration and 30 months in large oak.

Notable facts

The story

The Barolo Proprietor Who Looked North

In April 2018, Roberto Conterno completed a purchase that most Barolo observers had not predicted. He ran one of the Langhe's most closely watched Nebbiolo estates and had no obvious reason to look north. He bought 90 percent of Nervi anyway, an estate in Gattinara with vineyard records to 1679 and a cellar that needed rebuilding from the ground up. By December 2018 he had started digging. The Primatesta architectural studio broke into the old stone building and constructed a new underground cellar beneath it. The operative winery was running by summer 2019. When the final projects closed in January 2022, the old cellar rooms had become Cucine Nervi, a restaurant led by local chef Alberto Quadrio. Conterno kept the cru names exactly where the Gattinara town archives had placed them: Molsino since 1471, Valferana since 1231.

From the atlas

Nervi Conterno

At A Glance

The Producer

Nervi Conterno farms 28.5 hectares of Nebbiolo in Gattinara, a small DOCG appellation in Alto Piemonte, roughly 80 kilometres north of the Langhe. The estate produces three wines: an estate Gattinara Nebbiolo and two single-vineyard bottlings from parcels, Molsino and Valferana, whose names appear in Gattinara's town archives dated 1471 and 1231 respectively.

Roberto Conterno, who runs Giacomo Conterno in Barolo, acquired 90 percent of Nervi in April 2018 and became sole owner in 2022. He is a Barolo proprietor who chose an Alto Piemonte cru over a Barolo village as his expansion. The choice said something about where he thought the Nebbiolo grape could still surprise.

Place

Gattinara sits in the Vercelli hills, north of the Po plain and well above the limestone-dominated geology of Barolo and Barbaresco. The soil here is volcanic porphyry and mineral-rich clay, a combination that pushes Nebbiolo toward higher natural acidity and a pronounced saline, mineral quality that rarely appears in the Langhe wines. The appellation is small and largely surrounded by agricultural land, with the vine-planted slopes concentrated on the hillsides directly above the town.

On a label, Gattinara DOCG means 100 percent Nebbiolo, a minimum of 35 months ageing with at least 18 in oak, and single-vineyard designations allowed for specific approved crus. Molsino and Valferana are two of those crus, and the town archive records place them among the longest-documented vineyard parcels in northern Italy.

Soil And Site

Molsino faces south as a natural amphitheatre, concentrating afternoon heat and producing fruit with depth and density. The volcanic porphyry in the soil, a hard fractured rock that drains well and holds mineral salts, gives the wine its leathery grip and aged-fruit character even in youth. Valferana opens to the west on a longer, more exposed slope. The orientation moderates ripeness and keeps acidity higher through the growing season, producing fruit that is finer-grained and more mineral than Molsino.

Story

The Nervi family farmed these slopes continuously from at least 1679. In 1906 Luigi Nervi formalised the estate and built the winery. In 2011, a group of Norwegian investors led by Erling Astrup acquired the winery. By 2018 the winery needed both new ownership and a new cellar.

Conterno arrived in April 2018 and broke ground on a complete cellar reconstruction eight months later. The Primatesta architectural studio integrated a new underground ageing space into the existing stone building. By summer 2019 the operative cellar was running. By January 2022 the full project was complete, including Cucine Nervi, a restaurant led by local chef Alberto Quadrio, opened inside the old cellar rooms. The physical estate that visitors and winemakers now work in is less than five years old, laid over a site that has been in continuous vineyard use for centuries.

Conterno brought to Gattinara the approach he inherited and developed in Barolo: long maceration, unhurried oak ageing in large casks, and no shortcuts in the cellar calendar. The cru names stayed exactly where he found them.

Vineyards And Cellar

Every vine is hand-pruned and hand-harvested. After picking, the grapes ferment in stainless steel with a minimum 15-day post-alcoholic maceration, a long extraction phase that builds tannin mass and colour in Nebbiolo without browning the fruit. Malolactic fermentation happens in oak barrels, which begins to integrate the acid. The wine then spends 30 months in large oak casks, long enough for the tannins to soften and the fruit to shed its primary brightness and take on secondary depth.

The cellar now has separate temperature and humidity zones for different stages of conservation, a detail that matters in a wine meant to spend years in bottle before it opens fully.

Wines

The range runs three bottles, all Nebbiolo, all Gattinara DOCG.

The Gattinara Nebbiolo is the estate wine, drawn from across the 28.5-hectare holdings. It shows crushed red berry fruit, cinnamon, and orange peel with bright saline notes and finely grained tannins. It is the most accessible bottle in the range and the one that most clearly demonstrates the difference Gattinara soil makes: that saline, mineral lift is the signature the porphyry and clay produce, and it is immediate in this wine.

Vigna Molsino comes from the south-facing amphitheatre documented since 1471. The wine is denser and deeper than the estate bottle: dried floral and leathery aromas, ripe black and red berries, a meaty undercurrent, and tannins with the mass to age for 15 or more years. A young Molsino sits closed, and it takes time to show its full character.

Vigna Valferana comes from the west-facing slope with records to 1231. The wine runs more mineral than Molsino, with a lean acid line, elegance across the mid-palate, and a finish that stays saline and long. Where Molsino gives power and density, Valferana gives lift and mineral character. The two crus are a natural contrast, and together they show the range of what Gattinara's terrain produces.

In The Glass

Across the range, Nebbiolo in Gattinara opens with dried cherry and dark rose on the nose, often edged with a faint tar and juniper note that becomes more pronounced with age. The volcanic soil contributes a mineral quality that sits alongside the fruit rather than underneath it: saline, almost coastal.

In the mouth, the tannins are firm but finely grained, never coarse. Acidity is high and stays lifted through the mid-palate, carrying the fruit and preventing the wine from sitting heavy. The finish is long and dry, leaving dried spice, orange peel, and that mineral salinity. With air or a few years in bottle, the aromatics shift from primary fruit toward leather and dried herbs, a development that is characteristic of aged Nebbiolo from northern Piemonte.

The estate Gattinara Nebbiolo shows this character in its most open form. Molsino shows it with more concentrated fruit and greater tannic mass. Valferana shows it with more acid and a more mineral, less fruit-driven profile.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Vigna Valferana. It is a west-facing single-vineyard Gattinara from a parcel with town archive records going back to 1231, and it is the bottle that most clearly reads as Gattinara rather than as a Barolo approximation. The west exposure keeps the fruit precise and the acidity vivid. In the glass it opens with dried cherry, orange peel, and a distinct mineral note, then moves through a firm, saline mid-palate with fine tannins and finishes long and dry. There is no excess, no weight, no sweetness. It is a wine to drink alongside food, to return to over several years, and to understand as Nebbiolo on volcanic soil rather than limestone.

Anecdote

In April 2018, Roberto Conterno completed a purchase that most Barolo observers had not predicted. He ran one of the Langhe's most closely watched Nebbiolo estates and had no obvious need to look north. He bought 90 percent of Nervi anyway, an estate in Gattinara with vineyard records to 1679 and a cellar that needed rebuilding from the ground up. By December 2018 he had started digging. The Primatesta architectural studio arrived, broke into the old stone building, and constructed a new underground cellar beneath it. The operative winery was running by summer 2019. When the final projects closed in January 2022, the old cellar rooms had become Cucine Nervi, a restaurant led by local chef Alberto Quadrio. Conterno kept the cru names exactly where the Gattinara town archives had placed them: Molsino since 1471, Valferana since 1231.

Final Word

Nervi Conterno is the oldest winery in Gattinara and the most thoroughly rebuilt. Roberto Conterno chose a northern Piemonte appellation over a Barolo expansion, brought a cellar method with long maceration and 30 months in large oak, and left the cru names where seven and eight centuries of records had already fixed them. The wines carry volcanic soil, long maceration, and 30 months in large oak. They need patience. They repay it.

Sources

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