Italy · Monferrato & Asti

Scarpa

Old Piedmontese house in Nizza Monferrato farming Barbera in the Monferrato hills and Nebbiolo into the Langhe for Barolo, known for long barrel aging and extended bottle rest before release.

The producer

Scarpa sits in Nizza Monferrato, a hill town in the Asti province of eastern Piedmont where Barbera is the local grape and Scarpa makes Barbera d'Asti DOCG. Scarpa farms more than 30 hectares across two distinct zones: Barbera country in the Monferrato hills around Nizza, and Nebbiolo parcels reaching west into the Langhe, where Barolo and Barbaresco begin. The published histories of the house disagree on when it started. Scarpa's own chronology places Antonio Scarpa's founding at 1900; a regional source attributes the establishment to 1854, citing the same Venetian migrant by name. What both agree on is the trajectory: a house that moved early from bulk selling into estate bottling and built its reputation on keeping wine in barrel and bottle long after most neighbours had shipped theirs.

The mid-century period at Scarpa belongs to Mario Pesce, who trained in Burgundy and Alsace before returning to Nizza to apply what he had absorbed to Piedmontese material. Low yields, long macerations, large wooden barrels rather than small new oak, and prolonged bottle rest before release. Those decisions became the house doctrine and gave Scarpa a profile distinct from neighbours who moved product faster or adopted the barrique-led style that spread through Piedmont from the 1980s onward. Evgeny Strzhalkovsky acquired the house in 2017 and the range was reorganised into entry and excellence tiers, but the fundamental cellar sequence was not revised. Silvio Trinchero, enologist since 2007, carried the technical judgment across the ownership change.

Known for

Barbera d'Asti and Barolo from a large contiguous estate block, made in the traditional long-aging style shaped by Mario Pesce's Burgundy and Alsace training.

Notable facts

The story

The 1940 Decision

In 1940, when Barolo was still sold almost entirely in bulk by most producers in the zone, Scarpa bottled its own. The decision was practical as much as it was ambitious: the house had been working with Nebbiolo long enough to believe the wine was worth naming. The early start produced an unexpected administrative consequence. Because Scarpa was bottling Barolo before the denomination's geographic regulations were formalised in their current form, the house acquired a historical exemption allowing it to bottle Barolo outside the denomination's official geographic boundaries. Scarpa's own history describes this as a direct outcome of the 1940 decision. Other Barolo producers must bottle inside the zone. Scarpa, because it moved first, does not have to.

From the atlas

Scarpa

At A Glance

Producer: Scarpa Location: Nizza Monferrato, Asti province, Piemonte Grapes: Barbera, Nebbiolo Key appellations: Barbera d'Asti DOCG, Barolo DOCG Flagship vineyard: Poderi Bricchi (25+ hectares, acquired 1969) Cellar style: Long maceration, large wooden barrels, extended bottle rest Entry bottle: Briccomora Barbera d'Asti DOCG Excellence tier: Tettimorra Barolo (95-point Gold, Decanter World Wine Awards 2025)

The Producer

Scarpa sits in Nizza Monferrato, a hill town in the Asti province of eastern Piedmont, where Barbera is the local grape and Scarpa makes Barbera d'Asti DOCG. Scarpa is not most producers. The house farms more than 30 hectares across two distinct zones: Barbera country in the Monferrato hills around Nizza, and Nebbiolo parcels that reach west into the Langhe, where Barolo and Barbaresco begin. Two grapes, two geographic registers, one cellar philosophy.

The published histories of the house disagree on when it started. Scarpa's own chronology places Antonio Scarpa's founding at 1900. A regional source attributes the establishment to 1854, citing the same Venetian migrant by name. The discrepancy has never been formally resolved. What both accounts agree on is the trajectory: a house that moved early from bulk selling into estate bottling, and built its reputation on keeping wine in barrel and bottle long after most of its neighbours had shipped theirs.

Evgeny Strzhalkovsky acquired Scarpa in 2017. Silvio Trinchero, who has been enologist since 2007, remained in post across the ownership change, carrying the cellar knowledge from the previous era into the reorganised range.

Place

Nizza Monferrato stands at the eastern edge of Piedmont, separated from the Langhe by a ridge and a temperamental difference in grape emphasis. Barbera d'Asti DOCG is the appellation that covers this ground: it designates red wine made from Barbera grown on the calcareous clay hills of the Asti and Alessandria provinces. The grape produces wines with naturally high acidity and fruit-forward character, and its DOCG status allows both unoaked and oak-aged expressions.

Scarpa's reach into the Langhe adds Barolo DOCG to the estate's output. Barolo is Nebbiolo grown within a legally defined zone of eleven communes in the Cuneo province, further west and south. The appellation demands long aging before release, minimum three years for standard Barolo and five for Riserva, with a fraction of that time mandated in oak. The two appellations ask for different grapes, different soils and different cellar timelines, and Scarpa manages both from a single base in Nizza.

Soil And Site

Poderi Bricchi is the anchor of the estate: a contiguous block of more than 25 hectares on the highest point of a Monferrato hill, acquired in 1969. Its position on elevated ground means consistent exposure and a degree of natural drainage that influences the Barbera grown there. The soils across the Monferrato hills are predominantly calcareous clay, typical of the Asti province, which contributes to the firm acidity that defines Barbera d'Asti at its best.

The Langhe parcels that feed the Barolo range sit on the marlstone and limestone soils of that zone, which provide the mineral backbone that Nebbiolo needs to build the long-lived tannin frame characteristic of the appellation.

Story

The mid-century period at Scarpa belongs to Mario Pesce. He had trained in Burgundy and Alsace, two regions where the relationship between grape, place, cellar method and bottle age was already codified, and when he returned to Nizza he applied what he had absorbed to Piedmontese material. Low yields to concentrate fruit. Long macerations to draw colour and tannin from the grape skins. Large wooden barrels, not small new oak, for aging. Prolonged bottle rest before release, so the wine arrived at the table with some of its development already done.

Those decisions became the house doctrine. Barolo and Barbera alike passed through the same patient cellar sequence, and the approach gave Scarpa's wines a profile that was distinct from neighbours who moved product faster or adopted the barrique-led style that spread through Piedmont from the 1980s onward.

The 2017 acquisition by Strzhalkovsky preserved the cellar philosophy intact. The range was reorganised into two tiers, entry and excellence, and investment went into the cellars, but the fundamental sequence of long barrel aging followed by extended bottle rest was not revised. Trinchero, in place since 2007, provided continuity of technical judgment across the transition.

Vineyards And Cellar

The stated philosophy at Scarpa is low production yields, long macerations and fermentations, aging in large wooden barrels, and prolonged rest in the bottle before release. Large barrel aging, as distinct from small new-oak barriques, allows the wine to develop slowly without accumulating heavy oak character. The wood breathes without flavouring. Long maceration extracts more tannin and colour from Nebbiolo in particular, building the grippy, slow-evolving frame that Barolo collectors expect to carry for years. Extended bottle rest lets those tannins soften gradually before the cork is pulled.

Silvio Trinchero monitors the vineyards as well as the cellar, giving the enologist oversight of the full chain from vine to bottle. No verified farming certification has been established for the estate.

Wines

Scarpa divides its range into two levels. Briccomora is the entry wine: a Barbera d'Asti DOCG made without oak. The grape's naturally high acidity is left unmarked by wood, producing a wine of bright red-cherry and raspberry fruit, smooth tannins and fresh, succulent character. It is deliberately fruit-led rather than aged and complex, and its style sets it apart from oak-treated Barbera.

The Excellence Wines tier collects four bottles. Tettimorra is the Barolo that sits at the head of the group. The 2020 vintage shows floral character alongside forest-berry fruit and a savoury truffle note, underpinned by a firm mineral frame and chewy tannins, with bracing acidity that holds the whole together. Decanter gave it a 95-point Gold at the 2025 World Wine Awards. Tettineive, Monvigliero and La Bogliona complete the tier: all are long-aged expressions, all built for patience. The architecture is clear from the label: one accessible red meant for early drinking, and four wines that ask the cellar to wait.

In The Glass

Barbera from Scarpa opens with lifted red fruit, the red-cherry and raspberry that Barbera d'Asti produces when no oak is involved. The acidity is high and clean, giving the wine a mouth-watering quality. The tannins are smooth rather than gripping. It is a wine that tastes most like the grape and least like the cellar.

The Barolo tells a different story in the glass. Tettimorra opens with floral and forest-berry notes, then a truffle inflection arrives that is classically Nebbiolo in character: the grape's tendency toward earthy, undergrowth complexity in mature form. The palate is firm and mineral, with chewy tannins that have grip and presence, balanced by bracing acidity that keeps the wine moving toward a long finish. At 14.5 percent alcohol, the weight is there, but the acidity stops it from feeling heavy. These are wines that improve with time in the glass and further time in the cellar.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Briccomora Barbera d'Asti DOCG. It is an unoaked red from Barbera grown in the Monferrato hills around Nizza, produced without barrel aging so that nothing stands between the grape and the glass. The acidity is high and immediate, the fruit is red-cherry and raspberry, the tannins smooth enough to drink young. Scarpa built the range with this bottle at its base for a reason: it shows what the house does with Barbera when the cellar stays out of the way, and it gives a clear point of reference for understanding what changes when the Barolo side of the range adds years of barrel and bottle time into the equation.

Anecdote

In 1940, when Barolo was still sold almost entirely in bulk by most producers in the zone, Scarpa bottled its own. The decision was practical as much as it was ambitious: the house had been working with Nebbiolo long enough to believe the wine was worth naming. The early start produced an unexpected administrative consequence. Because Scarpa was bottling Barolo before the Barolo denomination's geographic regulations were formalised in their current form, the house acquired a historical exemption allowing it to bottle Barolo outside the denomination's official geographic boundaries. Scarpa's own history describes this as a direct outcome of the 1940 decision. Other Barolo producers must bottle inside the zone. Scarpa, because it moved first, does not have to.

Final Word

Scarpa is a Piedmontese house with a long memory and a clear split: Barbera grown close to home in Nizza, Barolo sourced from the Langhe, and a cellar that treats both with the same unhurried sequence of large wood and extended bottle rest. The range gives a drinker two entry points into that philosophy: Briccomora as the immediate, fruit-forward version, and Tettimorra as the long-game argument. The 2017 ownership change preserved more than it altered. The wines are still built for patience.

Sources

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