A Chardonnay grown on Barolo soil: Langhe Chardonnay La Tartufaia 2021 comes from 500 metres up on the north-facing slope of Serradenari, ferments spontaneously in 350-litre French tonneaux and rests there for some twenty months. A white with the tension of a mountain wine and the depth of large oak.
Bright straw yellow with green reflections. The nose opens on lemon zest, white peach and hazelnut, with a smoky, flinty note behind it that betrays the altitude of the vineyard. On the palate it is taut and tense: the acidity carries the wine, the oak lends breadth without weight. There is a saline minerality here that you would sooner expect in the Côte de Beaune than in the Langhe. The finish is long, dry and faintly bitter, with an almond echo. Serve at 11 to 13 degrees and give it half an hour in the decanter.
Giulia Negri is one of the most talked-about names of the new generation of Piedmontese winemakers. She took over the family estate of Serradenari at the age of twenty-four — a property that has been in the family for over a century and a half — and converted the vineyards to organic viticulture. With an uncompromising approach and a keen eye for terroir, she quickly established herself as one of the most respected young producers in the Langhe.
La Tartufaia is the parcel where truffles are hunted in winter — hence the name. The Chardonnay stands there at 500 metres, facing north, on Messinian soil of sandy-clay composition. That combination of altitude, coolness and sand produces a grape that ripens late and holds on to its acidity.
In the cellar, very little happens and everything at once. The must ferments spontaneously on indigenous yeasts in 350-litre French oak tonneaux and stays there for around twenty months on the fine lees. Nothing is corrected, nothing is steered; the wine is given time to become itself.
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