Sopravvento

In 2019, Michele and Matteo Melfa (brothers from Borgofranco d’Ivrea) began purchasing a small quantity of fruit from Gian Marco Viano of Monte Maletto in Carema, who Michele had studied with as a child. Around the same time, Michele began prospecting locals for land, eventually purchasing a small overgrown parcel. Shortly after, the pair purchased another overgrown parcel directly above their first acquisition, which they had to excavate to replant.

Before this, the brothers were working internationally as sommeliers—Michele at a famous Michelin star restaurant in Piedmont and Matteo at ‘Petrus’ by Gordon Ramsay and ‘Hide’ by Ollie Dabbous. Michele left his career first, devoting himself to the pair’s ‘Sopravvento’ project, tirelessly working in the vineyard and cellar. Shortly after, Matteo left London to join his brother in Carema, committing wholeheartedly to tending their parcels.

Today, the brothers produce three wines in microscopic quantities: a skin-contact Erabluce and two wines from another native white grape variety. Fermentation is spontaneous in various wooden vessels (including an ‘exhausted’ acacia barrel) with ageing on the lees in the same containers. After bottling, the wine rests for a further six months in a traditional natural wine cellar. The resultant wines are gastronomic, ripe and aromatic with heaps of chamomile and a fleshy, pulpy texture laden with stone fruits and a long, sapid finish. Readers should keep one eye open and drink up whenever possible!