Magic Italian White Wine of Morainic Amphitheater of Ivrea

Italian wines are one of the most popular tourist attractions in this beautiful and warm country. There are hundreds and maybe thousands of varieties of wines, and the number of them grows every year. The wines are different in every region but they are exquisite and really deserve deviations from the main itinerary and even special tours. This is the reason, why a thoughtful traveler pays attention to the local wines when he/she visits Italy.

What Vines Grow in Morainic Amphitheater

Not too far from Turin, there is an interesting place called Morainic Amphitheater of Ivrea. It’s a “dish” an ancient glacier left when it retired back to the Mont Blanc millions and millions of years ago.
Sides of this “dish” have optimal exposure for a very particular vine, Erbaluce di Caluso that is the protagonist of the zone.

Erbaluce di Caluso - Italian White Wine of Morainic Amphitheater of Ivrea

This vine has some peculiarities. The grapes have a thick peel and they are very suitable for aging. The vignerons can produce three categories of Italian wine from Erbaluce di Caluso: still, sparkling, and very interesting passito. This last category needs some words to understand what is it about if you did not taste it before. Could you imagine a dry wine that is sweet like a liqueur? This is passito that contains more than 29% of natural sugar of the grapes.

Some Historical Notes About Italian Wines

It’s generally recognized that the vines arrived in Italy with Greeks and Phoenicians at the beginning of the I millennium BC. First Merchants and colonizers later brought vines in their emporiums and towns because they were a part of their culture. But the populations of North Italy probably began to cultivate vines only after the Roman conquest.
The first known documents about Italian wines here refer to passito and are from about 1200 AD. Monks discovered that the grapes left to dry after the harvest in the attics of the buildings could produce excellent and long-lasting wine. It can be aged for years and even decades, and it does not perish.
One of the sommeliers told me they opened a bottle of 60 years old passito, and it still had excellent taste.  

Passito di Erbaluce di Caluso - Italian White Wine

Where to Taste Italian Wines

I’ll disclose you a very great place where you can taste all the varieties produced from the vine Erbaluce di Caluso. It is situated not far from the lake Viverone and is a headquarter of the association of the vignerons of this zone, Cantina Sociale Della Serra.

Erbaluce di Caluso - Italian White Wine

Sometimes they organize open door events, and, on these occasions, they are open even Sundays. The tasting is free and the members of the association will explain everything about their wines to you, but it’s supposed the visitors will purchase something even because they need our help to continue their work.
The tastings are welcome but it’s a good rule to call them before you visit it. Not many cellars allow you to taste their Italian wines for free. This cellar is a happy exception.

A Short Tour of Erbaluce di Caluso Cellar

I was very happy to have the president of the association as my guide this day. Thanks to him I could touch the most intimate notes of the soul of Italian white wine Erbaluce di Caluso, not only taste the wines. He is an excellent storyteller and patiently answered all my questions.

Erbaluce di Caluso – Italian White Wine

Every autumn, the vignerons take in this cellar about 12.000 tons of grapes. There are all three categories of wine I just mentioned here. And I appreciated very high the possibility to taste all of the kinds of wine produced from the same plant, Erbaluce di Caluso.
By the way, in the gallery of the photos, in the cellar of the superior category, you can see a great secret: amphorae. Here new wine is growing. The aging of the Italian wines is normally in the steel containers or in the barrels. If you visit the cellar 3-4 years after me, you probably will taste the wine from the amphoras, too.

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  Erbaluce di Caluso – Italian White Wine

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  Erbaluce di Caluso – Italian White Wine

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  Erbaluce di Caluso – Italian White Wine

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  Erbaluce di Caluso – Italian White Wine

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  Erbaluce di Caluso – Italian White Wine

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  Erbaluce di Caluso – Italian White Wine

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  Erbaluce di Caluso – Italian White Wine

Why Prefer Mono-Vine Tastings

When you visit tastings where come vignerons from all the country, you have a mix of tastes in the mouth. And the stories they tell you are very different and you maybe forget who told you this or that story. Here, all the event was dedicated only to one of them, Queen of the wines of this zone.
If we want to understand better the wine, these events can ad understanding of the wine we want to follow.

What to Visit Near the Cellar

Many tourists visit the big lake, Viverone, every year. Even residents of Turin say it’s their local lake because it’s only about one hour from the capital of Piedmont. But when I asked where is the road to the cellar, nobody could help me.
Because it's a zone for relaxation, you can find here many little restaurants and even some high-level locals. Very interesting is an ice-cream shop where is possible to eat enjoying the view on the lake, El Marghè.
For those who love prehistoric archeological remains and for the families with children, lake Viverone is the crib of the Villanovan culture. The prehistoric pile dwellings of the Alps were found here, and the site is visitable for tourists.

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