Who wouldn’t be excited about a wine tasting labeled as “The Wines of Piedmont” especially when it is hosted and curated by The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  It was also a tasting where all the wines were affordable, OK, maybe one would need some arm-twisting.  And even as a bonus, I was doing the tasting along with The Wine Raconteur, Jr. and his Bride, though they had started a little before me.

We started the session off with Vite Colte “Aureliana” Gavi 2024; and depending on the market the wine could be labeled as Terre da Vino brand.  The winery was founded in 1980 and is situated below the most prestigious Barolo cru vineyards and the architectural design has been reviewed by many modern architecture periodicals.  The wine is pure Cortese grape and comes from vineyards with alluvial soils with silty clay sediments and interspersed with reddish brown grit.  The grapes are soft pressed, and the must ferments in temperature controlled Stainless-Steel vats, followed by a short aging period on the lees, also in Stainless-Steel vats to maintain the freshness and the fruit.  The soft straw-yellow wine offered notes of green apples, ripe pears, white florals, freshly cut hay and a touch of anise.  On the palate this medium-bodied wine displayed tones of the green apples and pears, well-balanced with crisp acidity and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit and subtle minerality.

We then went with the Vite Colte “Tra Donne Sole” Sauvignon (Blanc) Piedmont 2023 and over the years this wine has carried both the Monferrato DOC and Piemonte DOC.  The wine “Tra Donne Sole” (The Lonely Woman) is named after a work by Cesare Pavese.  The members of Vite Colte ad their families, partners and winegrowers are the cornerstone of a modern winery with a combined goal to maintain the high standards that are part of the Piedmont tradition.  The vineyards for this wine are located in two different areas with different soils and microclimates, and also low yields, and these points are used to create a complex and balanced wine, as the regions ripen at different times.  The earlier vineyard have grapes that are higher in acidity and have class aromas of Sauvignon, while the later vineyard displays tropical fruit.  Ater the grapes are pressed, the juice is allowed to ferment in temperature-controlled Stainless-Steel vats and then the wine rests on the lees for three months until bottled.  A straw-yellow colored wine offered notes of pears, apples, passion fruit, gooseberry, citrus and white florals and grass.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of grapefruit, baked apples, vanilla with a touch of mint and licorice in an unfussy and very easy drinking wine that ended with a medium-count finish of fruit and terroir.

We then tried La Bioca “Cyrogrillo” Rossese Bianco Langhe DOC 2023.  La Bioca is a small winery in the Langhe near Serralunga d’Alba.  The winery has eight hectares of vineyards located in Monforte d’Alba, Novello, La Morra and Barbaresco.   Their first vintage was in 2012.  Rossese is a mildly aromatic red grape variety found in Liguria, and along the Riviera in southern France to the Franco-Italian border.  It is rather rare to be seen on its own, and is often blended with Sangiovese, though a few wineries are staunch supporters of this grape.  There is a mutation of this grape known as Rossese Bianco, the most famous being Rossese di Dolceacqua.  This wine is a blend of eighty-five percent Rossese Bianco and fifteen percent Manzoni Bianco.  The fruit is manually harvested, destemmed, and softly pressed without maceration.  The wine is fermented in temperature-controlled Stainless-Steel tanks, and the two juices are vinified separately on the lees for about five months, and then the two wines are blended about two months prior to bottling.  This straw-yellow wine offered notes of lemon, chamomile, white florals, herbs, cut grass and minerals.  On the palate this light-bodied wine displayed tones of lemon-lime citrus, white pepper, traces of vanilla, good acidity with an oily-like texture and ending with a medium-count finish citrus and terroir.