2024 Pio Cesare L'Altro Chardonnay

The grapes for L'Altro come from various vineyards owned by the family. These are the “Il Bricco” vineyard in Treiso in the Barbaresco region, “Bossania” in Trezzo Tinella, and “Colombaro” in the Barolo area near Serralunga d'Alba. After harvesting, the grapes are fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. The aging of the juice takes place separately. The small proportion of Sauvignon Blanc ages in stainless steel tanks, and the Chardonnay ages in barriques for a short period, after which the base wines are blended. L'Altro is Italian for 'the other'. The winery named this wine “L'Altro” to distinguish it from their first Chardonnay ever produced, Piodilei.

The Langhe L'Altro has a bright straw-yellow color in the glass, with delicate citrus, butter, honey, peach, nectarine, and delicious yellow fruit on the nose. On the palate, this wine is elegant and juicy, yet beautifully powerful and rich, ripe, with a hint of butter from the Chardonnay; lively and invigorating. Excellent with fish dishes, sole with butter sauce, mussels, chicken, salads, and of course, perfect as an aperitif.

Fun fact: Chardonnay from the upper part of Piedmont is becoming increasingly popular. The wines always have good freshness, and in terms of price comparison, they are highly recommended. The Stissa from Montaribaldi is also a good example.

ABOUT PIO CESARE

The Pio Cesare house is one of the classic producers of the region. Based in Alba, the 'wine capital' of this region, and founded in 1881 by Cesare Pio, his name has been preserved in reverse order as the name of this trading house and family business. It remains in family hands, as it is headed by Pio Boffa, the great-grandson of the founder. He continues the family's work in an excellent manner and is now also responsible for a number of modernizations and changes at this fine, traditional company. For instance, Pio Cesare has always been a trading house by nature, sourcing grapes under contract from local winegrowers. This is also a common practice in this region, which boasts many small winegrowers with small plots of vineyards 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, subdivided into small plots of vineyard, all owned by a different winegrower.

Pio Boffa decided that owning his own vineyards was beneficial for the quality of the wines. Over the years, he has therefore purchased a number of vineyards, particularly in the renowned Barolo and Barbaresco regions. The vineyard holdings now comprise 45 hectares and produce some of the house's finest wines, with a few distinctive vineyard cuvées as highlights. These are only released in good years.

Significant changes have also been implemented in the winemaking process. A very restrained vinification method has been chosen, in which the wine is left undisturbed as much as possible, meaning with minimal intervention. Each wine receives the individual treatment best suited to that particular wine, with a shorter or longer fermentation on the skins, followed or not by classic aging in Slavonian oak, the traditional wood of the region. This results in wines of classic finesse, balanced and complex, worthy representatives of this exceptional wine region.

FUN FACT : In the 'Attachments' tab, you will find the official factsheet for this fine wine. We will automatically send this to you upon ordering this wine. The wine is stored in our climate-controlled Wine Warehouse, and if you come to collect the wine, you will often receive a nice discount. You will see your discount immediately when you select 'Pick up' on the checkout page. We are located in Dordrecht, situated almost next to the A16 with ample parking. Click here for our address.

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