The appellation of Alta (or Upper) Langa in northern Italy is only 12 years old, but they’ve been making Alta Langa sparkling wines since the mid-1800s. The focus here is vintage traditional Champagne method sparkling wine made from hillside Pinot Nero and Chardonnay, and I’m here to tell you that it is delicious. If you swoon for Champagne method sparkling wine, do yourself a favor and seek out Alta Langa wines. With only 15% of their production exported outside of Italy, that might be easier said than done, but when you find it, it will be well worth it.
We are in Piemonte, the same region in Italy as Barolo and Barbaresco, the most heralded Italian red wines. It is also the same area as the world-famous Alba truffles. I was lucky to visit in November last year at the height of white truffle season. We even visited the Alba White Truffle Fair and went on a truffle hunt with a local grower. I was not mad at any of that.
What is so special about the region is that most producers are local, multi-generational families, and houses have little outside investment. This contributes to a feeling of authenticity and integrity in the region.
The wines of the Alta Langa showcase a more fun and vibrant side of Piemonte than the more serious wines of Barolo and Barbaresco. These Alta Langa wines have character and life, not just because of their effervescence.
The throughline in Piemonte is that the wines crafted here are meant to be gastronomic wines enjoyed with the local bounty. Conveniently, they also work with many cuisines from around the world. We attended a cooking demonstration at the truffle festival by Chef Ziling Zhou of Silver Pot, a one-star Michelin restaurant in Chengdu, China. The Alta Langa wines paired with her cuisine were otherworldly. One of her interests has been working to combine the flavors of Sichuan pepper and Alba white truffles.
Without further ado, here are the nine best wines I tried in the Alta Langa.
Daffara & Grasso Extra Brut 2020
Generous and fruity with a slight perfume on the nose. Yeastiness, leesy flavors on the palate, and rich and ripe fruit character. Oh my, she’s beautiful.
Marco Capra Seitremenda Extra Brut 2020
An elegant nose. On the palate, I felt precision and a strong technique. Like I could taste the hands of the winemaker, but in a good way. Sometimes, quality does not mean more words. Sometimes the wine speaks for itself, and that is the case here.
Monsignore Extra Brut 2020
Medium gold in color. Sometimes the tasting note is: Oh yes. A gorgeous sour and savory leesiness on the palate. This is EXACTLY what a high-quality traditional method sparkling wine should taste like. And as Bill Maher would say: I don’t know it for a fact, I just know that it’s true. This wine is a bop (and I am almost 100% sure the Italian winemaker reading this will have NO idea what I mean by that). But they will understand when I say I never want to see the bottom of my glass.
Roccasanta Extra Brut 2020
Pale yellow in the glass. On the nose, a fun candied character to the fruit. I get this weird yet pleasant combination of sweet and savory notes on the palate. I want sweet and sour pork, IMMEDIATELY upon drinking this. She’s giving.
Deltetto Brut 2020
okkk…okkkk…I see you Alta Langa! This wine is Piemonte in a glass, personified. Strict fruit, meaning linear. This descriptor brings to mind the ubiquitous vertical and emphatic Argentine hand gesture, similar to the Italian one. Fingers clumped together. Italians do this and shake their hands to emphasize. Argentines do a weird vertical version of that. If you’re reading this on the day this post goes live, visit my IG stories where I’ll demonstrate. I digress. There is a fun and funky yeast character. She’s elegant and sophisticated, but she can let her hair down. A gem. When drinking this wine, I heard Outkast’s “The Way You Move” in my head.
Paolo Berutti Brut 2020
Ok, interesting! I see you interesting! The funk of 40,000 years (thank you, Vincent Price. Give me all the savory flavors here. I dig. Gastronomic. I want to enjoy this wine with ceviche or a dish with fish sauce. Funk and umami plus funk and umami would be a pairing made in heaven. To be clear, this wine would not be everyone’s cup of tea. But if you like to work for your wine, this is it.
Coppo Riserva Extra Brut 2019
Riserva wines from the Alta Langa require 60 months aging and a minimum of 30 months minimum on the lees. An almost like dried potpourri and dried note plus pretty orange blossom. It’s giving an autumnal vibe. Savory and bomb com. It feels like a perfect pairing with the Alba white winter truffle season.
Bera Blanc Brut 2019
Wow (in a Puerto Rican accent). There’s a honeyed note peeking out on the nose. The beauty of the age is starting to show. I appreciate the slightly higher residual sugar here than the Extra Brut level. A touch of RS goes a long way.
Banfi Cuvée Aurora Extra Brut 2020
I visited Banfi in Montalcino (Tuscany) last Spring, so it was great to come full circle and revisit their Alta Langa sparkling wines while in Alta Langa. As my friends Neal and Alyse of Winery Wanderings say, wine tastes better when you taste it at the source. This wine is pretty, fruity, and slightly perfumed. It would shine with food, perhaps Vietnamese or Thai! No one would be unhappy with this in their glass.
Alta Langa is a quality, traditional method sparkling wine made in the same area as Barolo and Barbaresco, and the same area as the white truffle of Alba. Come for Barolo, Barbaresco, and truffles, and stay for Alta Langa.
