With regard to winemaking style, Bruno Rocca’s unmistakable modernist approach to wine is a combination of modern technology, Piemontese structure and skilful use of oak.
Harvest is performed by hand using small and open crates and only perfectly ripe grapes are selected. Further sorting is carried out by hand at the entrance to the cellar, in order to preserve both the stalks and the skins intact. Such accuracy allows for the must to remain unoxidised, hence preventing any addition of sulphur throughout this phase.
After being destemmed, Nebbiolo grapes are fermented in wooden vats, whereas stainless steel is preferred for other varieties. Vinification occurs on a singular basis for each vineyard, with grapes from large ones split among two or three vats, allowing for further differentiation.
Fermentation occurs with exclusively native yeasts throughout a medium-long time (also known as ‘ennobling extraction’) with nearly whole grapes and specific pump-overs (also called remontage in French). By doing so, the aim is to keep skins intact until the fermented wine is run off or pressed, therefore, allowing for the perfect amount of polyphenolic extraction.
The wine is now finally allowed to rest in wood – with a minimum age of 40 months, naturally dried to enhance flavour development. Ageing occurs in attentively selected French oak barriques and larger barrels called tonneaux in order to soften tannins, stabilise colour and convey an oaky vanilla-like flavour into the wine. This especially occurs when new oak is used in the process, which lasts for at least 26 months starting from the 1st of November of the year of harvest.
Drawing upon the über-famous Burgundian Pinot Noir, discovered during a trip well before he turned into a winemaker himself, Bruno Rocca has devoted his life to producing outstanding Nebbiolo grapes that grow on the estate’s tufaceous clay-rich and sandy soils. The vineyards face south-west and sit at an elevation of 300 metres above sea level. The vines owned by Bruno Rocca can be up to 60 years old.
