Nadio epitomizes what many associate with Langa and Piemonte wines and heritage – family ownership for generations, sustainable winemaking practices – with every bottle of wine telling a story of their own.

Nadia has vigneron-blood running through her veins, with Marco, who many calls a vine-whisperer, as her father, and the prominent and influential Elio Altare as her uncle on her mother Adele’s side.  When Nadia graduated with an Economics degree from the University of Torino, her parents, and grandparents, had already been cultivating their 4 hectares of vineyards for over 60 years.  In the beginning as a farm with livestock and the lot, later more and more focused on the vineyards and winemaking.  This fact, in addition to observing the passion and devotion of her uncle (those who have met Elio will know what I am talking about), made Nadia take the jump in 2002 and join the Curto winery full time.

Whilst respecting the traditions of the family, she quickly put her mark on the winery. For those still interested in the “traditional” vs “modernist” debacle, Nadia is hard to impossible to pin down.  I call her a contemporary traditionalist, but in her own words it is simply “Does it matter what style you prefer, if your wines are good? I don’t think so.”  It is not why Nadia is doing it, but she still proves the point by producing two interpretations from the renowned Arborina cru – one with long maceration, manual pressing and pumping over, aging in large botti, and another with short maceration and aging in small French barriques.

In addition to these two Barolos, the family makes a Dolcetto, a Freisa, and a Langhe Nebbiolo¹.  In addition, Nadia chooses to mature a Barolo four extra years in the bottle, before putting it in the market as a Riserva.  With the price difference between the two almost negligent, I sometimes wonder whether Nadia forgot everything she learned as an Economics student in Torino.

All wines of course organic, no pesticides or herbicides, no clarifying or filtering, the only “additive” being sulfite (which in her case is less than the 5% of the total amount regulations allow).  If you push her, she will find and show you numerous documents from different regulation bodies, that she is in fact one of the most sustainable winemakers, or farmers for that matter, around. Anywhere.  But, she prefer to let her wines talk on their own behalf.  If she is not passionately speaking about what’s on her mind herself, that is.

¹  Nadia, like most other artisan winegrowers in Langa, also used to make a Barbera.  However, just a couple of years ago her Barbera vines were attacked by Flavescence Dorée, and unfortunately she had to tear up all the vines.