Roero's best wine isn't made from its most planted grape, Arneis. It’s not even from white grapes. Quietly–almost secretly–the top wines are reds from Nebbiolo off of silty, sandy soils. Enter our newest Italian grower, STEFANO OCCHETTI.

Since Roero shares the same growing season as its famous neighbor just across the Turano river, you'd expect similar aromas and red fruited flavors to Barolo.

But, because of its famously sandy soils, the final wines are devoid of challenging tannins in their youth. Roero Nebbiolo is almost always drinkable upon release and at its best, age-worthy like the neighbors. No one shows this more clearly than our newest Italian grower, Stefano Occhetti.

Like many others in the current generation of talented winemakers, Stefano felt a calling to leave his corporate career behind and take on the work of his grandfather: to make soulful wines representative of his home region.

 He's just getting started, but we're already taken aback by how special these wines are. And what they say about Roero.

The three wines below are some of our favorite new Piedmontese additions– we cannot recommend them enough, especially as we start sharing our tables this season.

And, it's worth considering: as we look towards future vintages with warming temperatures, soil types that support healthy vines in extreme heat (like sand!) are going to continue to have more and more of our attention. 

2021 LANGHE NEBBIOLO
Langhe just as we love it: with approachable red fruit and enough finesse to pair with a *nice* dinner – at a price that keeps it (relatively) breezy for Nebbiolo $35 →

2020 'SANCHE' NEBBIOLO, ROERO DOCG
Elegant and perfumed after 2 years in wood, from a single vineyard in steep-sloped Vezza d’Alba. So full of grace, you'd never guess it was only Stefano's second vintage. $44 →

2020 'RISERVA OCCHETTI' NEBBIOLO, ROERO DOCG
From a third-gen family vineyard, but the first vintage where the oldest vines were made into a Riserva. Intense and incredibly ageable $60 →