Piedmont is a large wine family with "the red trinity" of Barbaresco, Dolcetto, and Barolo at the helm. Typically, when people talk about Piedmont grapes, they talk about Nebbiolo and Dolcetto grapes that "red trinity" made off. Meanwhile, other varietals often added to make Nebbiolo, for example, taste better younger.

This is the case with Proprietà Sperino Uvaggio 2013 and the reason we made it part of our wine tasting event "Taming of the Italian wine."

Proprietà Sperino is an example of when lesser-known grapes dance along with Nebbiolo to produce delicious wine. Uvaggio in the name reflects that this wine is a blend of three grapes:

• 80% Nebbiolo
• 15% Vespolina
• and 5% Croatina.

Each one of the varietals contributes its own character to make this wine complete. Nebbiolo defines this wine and provides tannins. Vespolina softens it by taming young Nebbiolo, providing the velvety feel and complex aromas. Croatina adds red fruit and flower scents.

As we started tasting it, we realized that it's authentic and uncommon wine with joyfully distinct aromas and flavors. Uvagio greeted us with ripe red fruit and herbal aromas with a touch mushroom and mineral notes. The flavors of tart cherry, raspberry and the spiciness of white pepper were followed by refreshing acidity and polished tannins. Savory tones of spice and leather give the wine staying power.

This wine intrigued us so much that we wanted to learn more about Vespolina grape in it and the estate it came from.

Based on our research Vespolina is "a secret sauce" used by many winemakers to soften young Nebbiolo and can result in a unique and delicious single varietal wine. It might be challenging to find one because there is only 40 ha of this varietal left, so not much is produced and much high-class Italian restaurant all over the world adding it to their wine lists.

So if you see 100% Vespolina don't hesitate to try it and please share your tasting notes.

Let's talk about the estate where Uvagio came from.

Proprietà Sperino lies in the Castello quarter of the village of Lessona (Biella), among the foothills of the North Piedmont Alps. It is managed by Luca and his father Paolo De Marchi (of Isole e Olena in Chianti Classico). In late eighteen hundreds, this was a thriving wine growing area with long winemaking tradition. However, due to Italy's industrial development, limited labor force and the inability due to terrain and climate to produce large quantities of cheap wine in this region many properties were abandoned including Sperino.

The revival of the area started in the late 20th century with growing interest in high-quality Italian wines. In 1999 Paolo De Marchi finally decided to realize the dream he had nurtured since childhood, that of reviving the castle and those cellars that as a child had fascinated him during the summer holidays in Lessona with his family.

Thanks to Paolo's nostalgia and growing interest in quality, not the quantity of wine now we had a chance to fall in love with Uvagio and look forward to trying other wines from Proprietà Sperino.