Barbera spent most of the 20th century as Piedmont’s most democratic grape. It grew nearly everywhere, yielded generously, and ended up in enormous quantities of wine that were drunk without much thought and largely without complaint. Nebbiolo attracted the serious collectors and serious money.
From the 1990s onwards, a group of producers in a specific corner of Monferrato began working the vineyards harder, reducing yields, extending ageing, succeeding in selling the wine at higher prices. The corner was the hillside zone around Nizza Monferrato. The appellation that eventually formalised their work, Nizza DOCG, arrived in 2014.
The Terroir: Sands and Ancient Seabeds
Nizza DOCG covers 18 municipalities in the Asti province, a narrow zone between Nizza Monferrato and Canelli, within the UNESCO-listed hills of Langhe-Roero and Monferrato. The soils are ancient shallow-seabed deposits from the Pliocene (sands, sandy marls, and sandstones), known locally as sabbie astiane: they drain well and warm up quickly in spring. The blue clay subsoil, Helvetian marl underneath, and a strong diurnal temperature range give Barbera from this area more tannin structure and ageing potential than you typically find in neighbouring denominations.
In the 1990s, local producers applied for sub-zone status within Barbera d’Asti. The DOCG for Barbera d’Asti followed in 2008. In 2014, Nizza became its own fully autonomous appellation, with regulations that reflect what the zone’s best producers had already been doing for years: 100% Barbera, yields capped at 70 quintals per hectare, minimum 18 months of ageing, of which at least 6 months are in oak. The Riserva requires 30 months, with at least 12 months spent in oak vessels.
Michele Chiarlo
Michele Chiarlo founded his winery in Calamandrana in 1956, starting with Barbera and Moscato before expanding into Barolo two years later. In a period when most producers there were selling wine in bulk, he was already ageing his in oak and bottles for extended periods before release. He is also credited with introducing malolactic fermentation to Barbera d’Asti in 1974. This technique converts the grape’s sharper malic acid into the softer lactic acid; Barbera had always been brisk to the point of austerity in its youth, and malolactic changed how early it could be enjoyed.
Cerequio was acquired in 1988, Cannubi in 1989, both among Barolo’s most prestigious named vineyards. Then in 1995 came Tenuta La Court: 20 hectares in Castelnuovo Calcea, in the heart of what would become the Nizza DOCG. Chiarlo and a handful of other producers pushed hard for the creation of the appellation.
The estate covers 110 hectares across Langhe, Monferrato, and Gavi, with 12 single-vineyard wines in the portfolio. Beyond the Nizza wines, the range extends to Barolo crus, Barbaresco, Gavi, and Moscato d’Asti.
La Court sits at 250 metres of altitude; the vines were planted in 1976 on those sabbie astiane soils with south to southwest aspect. The property is also home to the Art Park La Court, an open-air installation with permanent works by artists including Ugo Nespolo, Emanuele Luzzati, and Chris Bangle — twenty hectares of Barbera vines with contemporary sculpture scattered through the rows.
The visual identity of the three wines below was created by Giancarlo Ferraris, who has been making labels for Chiarlo since the mid-1980s; his rendering of the estate’s cypress trees, planted in the mid-19th century and still standing at the tops of the two hills, is probably his best-known work.
The Three Nizza Wines
Nizza DOCG – Cipressi – 2023
100% Barbera
The Cipressi takes its name from those cypresses on the hilltop, the ones on the label. It is vinified in temperature-controlled stainless-steel vats, with 10 to 12 days of skin contact, followed by malolactic conversion. The wine matures for a minimum of 18 months before being released, 12 of them in large oak casks.
Deep ruby with violet hints. The nose is direct: ripe cherry and raspberry upfront, with a sweet tobacco note underneath that comes and goes. On the palate, it is full, and the acidity keeps the fruit from sitting still. The finish is clean and faintly savoury. This is the wine that gives you the clearest read of what La Court’s soils taste like, before oak and time start adding their commentary.
Nizza DOCG – Montemareto – 2023
100% Barbera
Montemareto is a specific hill within La Court, the same soils and aspect as the Cipressi fruit but a tighter parcel, vinified and matured in the same way as the Cipressi.
The Montemareto keeps something back. The nose has a violet note that sits above cherry and plum, and a low spice quality underneath; the combination gives the impression of a wine still finding its shape. The palate has more weight in the mid-section, and the tannin arrives as a soft, even texture. The finish is long and ends on a savoury note that makes you want another glass rather than a different wine.
Nizza DOCG – Riserva La Court – 2021
100% Barbera
La Court is produced only in vintages considered exceptional and sold on allocation. The 2021 was fermented in 55hl oak barrels, then matured for 30 months: approximately 12 in a combination of large barrels and barriques, followed by 18 months in bottle before release.
It is a quiet wine. The nose is dark and dense: cocoa, coffee, dried cherry, and a background note that sits somewhere between cellar floor and tobacco. On the palate, the acidity is absorbed and integrated into a structure that has real depth to it. The tannin has resolved into something seamless. The 2021 is good now, but it will be a more interesting bottle in five years.
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