2020 Pio Cesare Piodilei Chardonnay

The Chardonnay does very well especially on the tops of the hills in Langhe Piemonte, which are too cool for making red wines. The Chardonnay for this wine comes from the 'Il Bricco' vineyard, in the heart of the Barbaresco region. The grapes are picked by hand, as late as possible, usually at the end of September. The wine undergoes fermentation in oak barrels of French origin. This is followed by another maturation in barrel for one year. This makes it one of the beautiful Chardonnay, wonderfully rich and toasted, complex and broad, which can compete with all international toppers and is nicknamed the " Burgundy of Piemonte " for a reason.

The Chardonnay Langhe doc Piodilei has a bright straw yellow with a fantastic inviting scent in the nose with brioche, pineapple, wood, vanilla and butter, beautiful caramel, with a hint of hazelnuts. This beautiful white Pio Cesare has a slightly fat and rich style, powerful and full flavor, with the typical richness and butter of the chardonnay, coffee and caramel, beautifully classic and broad. Do not drink this beautiful wine cold - around 10-12℃ is perfect. This is of course a great wine with fish dishes, fried flatfish, mussels, white meat, salads and of course perfect as an aperitif

ABOUT PIO CESARE

The house of Pio Cesare is one of the classic producers of the region. Located in Alba, the 'wine capital' of this region, and founded in 1881 by Cesare Pio. His name has been retained in reverse order as the name of this trading house and family business. It is still in family hands, because it is headed by Pio Boffa, the great-grandson of the founder. He continues the work of the family in an excellent way, and in the meantime he is also responsible for a number of modernizations and changes at this fine, traditional company. For example, Pio Cesare has always been a trading house, which contracted the grapes from wine growers in the region. This is also a common practice in this region, which has many small winegrowers with small plots of vineyard, who are always willing to sell their grapes to one of the trading houses. In that respect, the region is a bit like Burgundy, with all those different vineyards, each with its own name, divided into small pieces of vineyard, all of which are owned by a different winegrower.

Pio Boffa has decided that it is a good thing for the quality of the wines to own vineyards. Over the years, he has therefore purchased a number of vineyards, especially in the famous areas of Barolo and Barbaresco. The vineyard property is now 45 hectares in size, and produces some of the house's finest wines, with a few separate vineyard cuvées as the highlights. These are only marketed in the good years.

The necessary changes have also been made in winemaking. A very restrained vinification has been chosen, in which the wine is left alone as much as possible, so with as few interventions as possible. Each wine receives the individual treatment that best suits that particular wine, with a shorter or longer fermentation on the skins, whether or not followed by a classic aging in Slavonian oak, the traditional wood of the region. It produces wines with a classic finesse, balanced and complex, worthy representatives of this special wine region.