La Ca' Növa has quietly grounded our Piedmont section almost since day one – and incredibly, it's remained a bit of a best-kept secret. But the wines deserve a proper highlight: these are two of Barbaresco's top terroirs, with ultra-traditional, patient winemaking. At prices we really don't see anymore.

With a full range here from Langhe Nebbiolo to Montefico, we're finally digging in.

La Ca' Növa is a family estate; and while patriarch Pietro Rocca only started making his own wines in the 1970s, the legacy prior to that was spent selling fruit to two generations of the Gaja family. His sons Marco and Ivan (an enologist and agronomist, respectively) are set to maintain the momentum.

This is, truly, some of the best fruit to be had in Piedmont.

The limestone-driven cru bottlings are coming from a fully southern exposure parcel in Montestefano and their estate vineyard Bric Mentina in Montefico. The Langhe Nebbiolo – echoing what we wrote a couple weeks ago about Luca Roagna's – is also sourced from these same two sites (in this case, simply the younger vines, and with shorter élevage). And it's well worth noting that the Barbera is a mind-boggling example for under $30.

Farming is organic; and crucially, the cellar is not modern.

There is no temperature control; and wild fermentations happen in a set of tanks and wooden conical vats, with the incredibly old school 'steccatura' technique of submerging the cap with a wooden grid. Élevage is firmly neutral in untoasted, 30 hectoliter Austrian oak.

The result is pure Barbaresco: translucent, bright red fruit with refined tannins. Under the radar, but easily one of the finest values in long lived Nebbiolo.

2022 La Ca Nova Barbera d'Alba, $26
2023 La Ca Nova Langhe Nebbiolo, $33
2021 La Ca Nova Barbaresco DOCG, $50
2022 La Ca Nova Montestefano Barbaresco DOCG, $57
2022 La Ca Nova 'Montefico vigna Bric Mentina' Barbaresco DOCG, $57

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