A parallel stories of two men, who have helped revive the small Carema denomination. Different experiences and approaches, but a common goal: to produce wines that are an authentic expression of the territory. Despite their differences, both have become role models for a new generation of producers in Carema, embracing the idea of “mutual support” and collective growth.
written by Erika Mantovan
What I am about to write, more than an article, is a story. A story whose protagonists are two young men, who have become brothers in a project as they travel, together, a piece of their lives; they have become symbols of what is also known in nature as mutual support, as a factor in evolution. Vittorio Garda and Gian Marco Viano were, for different reasons, responsible for a rediscovered and strong interest, both on the part of critics and the public, in Carema, a red wine made from the Nebbiolo grape of Canavese, produced not so far from the city of Turin (Piedmont), about an hour’s drive away – to be precise. The interest has increased demand, and therefore supply. Many young people from Canavese, from which an association was also born, settled in Carema, snatching a few hectares from the mountains and trying their hand at wine production following these two models, thus becoming reference points and support for a new generation of wine makers.
Carema, harvest time
As 2024 came to an end, Vittorio and Gian Marco decided to do something for themselves: an evening of ‘New Vintages and Old Friends’. A tasting that grants a kindness, taking time to analyse what has happened, what has been done, together with those who have seen them embark on the path of revalorisation of one of the smallest appellations in Italy, but one of the most prestigious for the finesse of execution and longevity of the wines. Approximately twenty hectares are the current ones out of the original 120, pulverised over time by the forest and the abandonment of the vineyard for factory work. Heroic vineyards perched on a morainic facade with a steep slope, cultivated up to about 700 m above sea level on silicon-rich soils of alluvial origin, plants supported by dry-stone walls from which stand pergolas about two metres high; structures resting on truncated conical columns of stone and lime, the pilun, that capture heat during the day and return it at night. This is the office of the producers who, due to a limited production of bottles, are inevitably very often forced to do another job as well.
Carema Village
I have always been convinced that, in order to fully understand a wine, and when we choose it among many, there is a part of us that seeks the human side of that outcome – whether we like it or not, whether it is more or less expensive. I, at least, when I can, try to understand the people who produced it, their stories, their experience. This is an aspect of wine that I like a lot and very often gives me many answers to my questions. Let’s start from here, from them, from Vittorio and Gian Marco: two parallel lives, very different, before they met in the heroic amphitheatre that goes by the name of Carema.
Vittorio, apparently quiet, has instead a great temperament. He works with a smile and tackles problems on the strength of the know-how he learnt first at the University of Turin, where he graduated in viticulture and oenology (Vincenzo Gerbi was one of the professors there), and on his experience gained working at the Cantina della Serra, a social wine cellar in Canavese, taking it to unimaginable levels of quality. Like all young people, he dreams. He dreams of self-fulfilment. To become a man. He becomes a father and manages to get a plot of land in Carema. Together with his architect wife Martina Ghirardo, he starts his personal wine production project in 2012. They christen it Sorpasso: the image chosen is that of the hare, but above all of the tortoise, which represents the effort and time it takes to reach the coveted goal: to produce wine, as faithful and respectful as possible of the terroir through a style that sees organic regimes in the vineyard, long fermentations and no filtration. In about one hectare of vineyards, from different plots, the company produces two Carema and two red wines, made from blends of different varieties. ‘For me, Carema is synonymous with freedom,’ says Vittorio, who lives attached to this opportunity to express himself.
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- Vittorio Garda, Martina Ghirardo
Gian Marco, on the other hand, apparently silent, has a world inside of experiences to tell. He approached wine for work. Before producing it, he invested his time graduating as an electrical engineer and working abroad and in Italy as a sommelier in restaurants such as Gordon Ramsay’s Murano, Villa Crespi, the Bellevue in Cogne and the Simposio in Porta Romana in Milan. He ended up in the Langhe working for Cantina Vajra. Overlooking the Bricco delle Viole every day, he decided to ‘switch sides’. In 2014, there was not much going on in Carema, with the exception of the Cooperative and Cantina Ferrando. He managed to buy his first 700 square metres of vineyard and founded his own business: Monte Maletto. Today, the property consists of 1.7 hectares. Production starts, here too, from the exacting care of the vineyard: chemical herbicides and the like are banned. ‘We have a responsibility towards those who live here and breathe the air,’ says Gian M;arco. The vineyards are one with the village. While in the cellar, the winemaking protocol is non-interventionist: spontaneous fermentation by indigenous yeasts. The winery produces Carema Sole e Roccia, Erbaluce Vecchie Tonneau and a red wine.
Gian Marco Viano – Photo credit ©mucci.wine/vineyards-vino/monte-maletto/
Two different people, but so similar. Two worlds: that of science and the rules to follow in winemaking, on the one hand, and that of a self-discipline aimed at learning from one’s own experience, on the other. It’s not a film, it’s all true. There is an attempt to make peace with ideologies, because the two, after the extremisms of the first vintages, have now come very close: the wines are produced in a very similar way.
But the difference in the glass is clear, the men can be seen in wines of great personality, in some cases timid in others already resolved and in others still to be deciphered and waited for before grasping their true nature.
Here, the two Carema previews.
Carema Doc 2023 Sorpasso
A flutter of whispering tannins moves across the palate together with a flesh that is never yielding, but on the contrary ripe and fragrant, with hints of small red fruits and mineral hints. The tannin, which tingles slightly, presses forward with balance, supporting an overall harmony that manifests itself in a wine full of energy. 94
Carema Sole e Roccia Doc 2023 Monte Maletto
More promising on the palate than on the nose, it needs ageing in glass, but reveals a materiality that expresses itself through soft tannins and a juiciness that delicately accompanies the gentle slowness of the sip. The concentration of matter focuses on the centre of the palate, enveloping it before returning echoes of red fruit and haematic hints. A wine of fine evolutionary potential. 94+