From the atlas
Torraccia del Piantavigna
At A Glance
- Appellation: Ghemme DOCG and Gattinara DOCG
- Grape: Nebbiolo (locally called Spanna), with Vespolina
- Region: Novara hills, northern Piedmont
- Vineyard: approximately 40 hectares, hand-tended
- Annual production: approximately 250,000 bottles
- Recognition: Tre Bicchieri (Gambero Rosso) for twelve consecutive years
- Ownership: Francoli family (majority), Ponti family (significant minority, since 2015)
The Producer
Torraccia del Piantavigna makes Nebbiolo-based reds in the Novara hills of northern Piedmont, working two DOCG appellations that most wine buyers know less well than they deserve: Ghemme, the home appellation, and Gattinara, the neighbouring zone to the east. The winery was founded in 1997 by Alessandro Francoli, whose family had been distilling grappa in the same hills since 1875. The wine operation and the distillery remain separate businesses under family ownership.
The winery takes its name from a parcel of land and a family connection that runs further back than the 1997 founding. Pierino Piantavigna, maternal great-grandfather of the current Francoli generation, planted the first Nebbiolo vines on the hillsides above Ghemme in 1977. Alessandro built the winery two decades later to make wine from those parcels. The Ponti family, also from Ghemme and owners of a major Italian vinegar and preserve business, took a significant minority shareholding in February 2015; the Francoli family kept majority control.
Place
Ghemme and Gattinara sit in the Novara hills on the eastern foothills of the Alps, roughly 80 kilometres north of the Langhe and separated from it by the wide Po valley. The distance matters in the glass. Where Barolo and Barbaresco grow on Tortonian clays that push toward density and dark fruit, the Novara hills rest on volcanic subsoils laid over glacial deposits. This produces a lighter soil profile that pulls Nebbiolo toward a more perfumed, mineral character rather than the concentrated extract of the Langhe.
Both appellations carry DOCG status. Ghemme allows a minimum of 85% Nebbiolo with Vespolina and Uva Rara as permitted blending partners, and requires a minimum of 36 months total ageing, including 20 months in wood and 9 months in bottle. Gattinara requires 90% or more Nebbiolo, with up to 10% Vespolina permitted, and a minimum of 35 months ageing including 24 months in barrel. On the label, both names signal long-aged northern Piedmont Nebbiolo, not Barolo.
Soil And Site
The 40 hectares of Torraccia del Piantavigna vineyards sit on the hillsides above Ghemme. The volcanic and glacially deposited subsoils that characterise this part of the Novara hills give the wines a mineral quality distinct from Langhe Nebbiolo. Lighter soils mean less extraction and a perfumed lift in the fruit; the DOCG ageing requirements then add the tannin development the grape needs before the wine reaches the market.
Story
The Francoli family business begins not with wine but with fire and copper. The distillery was established in 1875 and operated for over a century before Alessandro Francoli turned toward the hillside vineyards his family had a connection to. In 1977, Pierino Piantavigna had planted Nebbiolo above Ghemme; by 1997, Alessandro founded Torraccia del Piantavigna to turn those parcels into a dedicated wine estate.
The winery grew to 40 hectares and around 250,000 bottles annually. In February 2015, the Ponti family, Ghemme locals with a national profile in Italian food production, took a significant shareholding while the Francolls retained majority control. The partnership brought regional capital and industry credibility alongside the winery's Gambero Rosso recognition, which by that point had already run for years.
Vineyards And Cellar
All 40 hectares are hand-tended. In the cellar, Torraccia del Piantavigna ages its wines in large Allier casks of 25 to 50 hectolitres and Slavonian oak casks of 70 to 150 hectolitres. The choice of cask size is deliberate. Large vessels allow a slow, gentle micro-oxidation through the wood staves, which softens Nebbiolo's characteristically firm tannins and allows the tannin molecules to bind without leaving a perceptible oak character on the wine. Small barriques are not used. The effect is a Nebbiolo that arrives in the glass with grip softened and perfume intact, rather than overlaid with toast or vanilla.
The DOCG ageing minimums reinforce this approach. Ghemme spends at least 20 months in wood and 9 in bottle before release; Gattinara spends at least 24 months in barrel. By the time a bottle reaches a table, years of slow development have already done their work.
Wines
The range is built around two DOCG reds. The Ghemme DOCG is at least 85% Nebbiolo, potentially blended with Vespolina or Uva Rara, and carries the characteristic minerality and perfume of the Novara volcanic soils. Tannins are firm on release but softened by the large-cask ageing regime; acidity runs bright and lifts the finish cleanly. The Gattinara DOCG is predominantly or entirely Nebbiolo, aged longer in barrel, and tends toward firmer tannins at release, with the same perfumed lift and mineral undercurrent.
Torraccia del Piantavigna also produces a Vespolina varietal bottling, a white wine labelled Erbavoglio, and a rosé. The Vespolina offers a different angle on the Novara hills: lighter in body, more angular in acidity, with the grape's characteristic hint of spice alongside red fruit. Both the white and rosé are listed in the range but are secondary to the two DOCG reds in production and market profile.
Twelve consecutive Tre Bicchieri awards from Gambero Rosso, Italy's most widely read wine guide, confirm that the Ghemme and Gattinara wines perform consistently at the top of the appellation.
In The Glass
Nebbiolo grown on the volcanic and glacial soils of the Novara hills reads differently from the same grape in the Langhe. The first thing from the glass is a floral lift, dried rose petal and violet alongside red cherry and a faint dried herb note, without the dark fruit weight that marks Barolo. On the palate the acidity is high and immediate, carrying the wine forward with a clean freshness that keeps the fruit bright rather than heavy. The tannins are present but bound, the result of years in large casks where micro-oxidation has smoothed the grip without stripping the character. The finish is mineral, with a stony dryness that lasts and pulls the wine back toward the soil it came from. These are not massive wines. They are long and delicate, and the delicacy is a choice, not a limitation.
A Bottle To Understand It
Start with the Ghemme DOCG. This is the home appellation, built on parcels that trace to Pierino Piantavigna's 1977 planting, and it carries everything the winery does in one bottle: Nebbiolo from volcanic Novara hillsides, aged in large Slavonian and Allier oak, released only after 36 months of development. In the glass it shows the characteristic floral lift and mineral edge of the appellation, with firm but yielding tannins and a bright acid line with a lively finish. The perfume is pronounced from the first pour and the finish is dry and stony. For a wine with this much Nebbiolo DNA, the weight is surprisingly light on its feet. Buy the Ghemme first, then try the Gattinara alongside it to see how the extra barrel time shifts the register.
Anecdote
In 1977, Pierino Piantavigna walked the hillsides above the town of Ghemme and planted Nebbiolo vines in the volcanic soil. He was not establishing a winery. He was a farmer planting a grape he knew in a place he knew, and the decision required no particular vision of a brand or a label. Twenty years passed. The vines matured and the parcels were tended through two decades without a winery of their own. Then, in 1997, Pierino's great-grandson Alessandro Francoli, who was already running the family distillery business, founded Torraccia del Piantavigna specifically to make wine from those hillside parcels. He named the estate after the land and its history. The vines Pierino planted are still in production, and every bottle of Ghemme DOCG from the estate draws on that 1977 decision.
Final Word
Twelve consecutive Tre Bicchieri awards are not an accident in a region where the competition is serious. Torraccia del Piantavigna has built a consistent case for Ghemme and Gattinara as DOCG appellations worth knowing, using 40 hectares of hand-tended Nebbiolo, large-cask ageing, and micro-oxidation in large casks. For anyone who knows Barolo and wonders what Nebbiolo does elsewhere, this is the direct answer.
Sources
- https://www.francoli.it/en/
- https://www.torracciadelpiantavigna.it/the-history/?lang=en
- https://www.empson.com/people-places/torraccia-del-piantavigna-the-winery-you-shouldnt-be-missing-out-on/