Muraje

In 2012, Federico and Deborah began restoring 1.3 hectares of vineyards, featuring small quantities of local grape varieties like Neyret, Ner d’Ala, Pugnet, and Vernassa. In 2016, they launched Muraje and released their first wines, focussing on Nebbiolo (Pioctener subvariety), which accounts for the majority of their production.

In the vineyard, wines are trained traditionally; the ‘pergola Caremese' ('topia' in local dialect) is anchored by handmade truncated cone-shaped stone/lime pillars (called 'pilun'). Vineyard work is painstaking and demanding given the steepness of the terraces and the pair’s commitment to minimising the environmental impact of their work. In the cellar (a tiny garagiste setup), fermentation is spontaneous with long maceration (c. 70 days for reds), and ageing is in second and third-passage barrels. The wines are not fined or filtered, chemicals are restricted, and sulphites are added in minimum quantities if necessary.

Today, Muraje produce two wines in extremely limited quantities, a crystalline Nebbiolo made from several small parcels and the Lasù, a blend of Nebbiolo and various lesser-known indigenous red varieties. The wines are sold on allocation only and are almost impossible to source, defined by explosive floral aromatics, racy acids and restrained tannins.