Vallana

Maggiora · Novara (NO)

← Piemonte

Established

1937

Antonio Vallana

Yearly production

30,000 bottles/yr

Estate total

Location

Maggiora, Colline Novaresi, Piedmont

Novara (NO)

Vineyard area

—

Uncertain, sources conflict

Appellations

Boca DOCColline Novaresi DOC

History

The Vallana family's association with wine at Maggiora, in the Colline Novaresi hills of Alto Piemonte, is traced by the winery to 1787, when a family forebear, Gaetano Perrucconi di Montalbano, served as cellar master to the Bishop of Novara. The estate in its present form, Antonio Vallana e Figlio, was established in 1937 by Antonio Vallana; his son Bernardo went on to run the cellar in the following decades.

In the late 1950s and through the 1960s, Bernardo Vallana's Spanna (the local Alto Piemonte name for Nebbiolo), released under vineyard-designated cuvee names such as Montalbano, Traversagna, and Cantina del Camino, earned the estate a place alongside Giacomo Conterno and Bartolo Mascarello on the short list of Piedmont's most admired producers of the day. Sourced largely from the Boca zone, these wines became prized among Italian-wine collectors, particularly in the New York market, and original bottles from the 1950s and 1960s are still tracked and occasionally opened by collectors today.

Bernardo's daughter Giuseppina Vallana married Guy Fogarty, an English teacher who turned to winemaking; Guy began the estate's return to its own Boca bottling with the 1996 vintage. Giuseppina's children, Marina and Francis Fogarty, represent the fourth generation from founder Antonio Vallana and now run the estate, with Francis serving as winemaker and Marina handling sales and international marketing; Rare Wine Co., the estate's West Coast US importer, notes that Francis and Marina expanded the estate's own Boca into a regular, if still small, production starting with the 2010 vintage, alongside the winery's longstanding Gattinara and Colline Novaresi Spanna.

Wines

Illustrative selection

Spanna Colline Novaresi

Colline Novaresi DOC · Nebbiolo (locally called Spanna)

The estate's everyday red, Nebbiolo grown in the Colline Novaresi hills around Maggiora and labeled Spanna, the traditional Alto Piemonte name for the variety.

Cuvee Bernardo Vallana

Colline Novaresi DOC · Nebbiolo (Spanna)

A 100% Spanna selection named for Bernardo Vallana, positioned above the estate's standard Colline Novaresi Spanna, per Rare Wine Co., the estate's West Coast US importer.

Boca

Boca DOC · Nebbiolo (Spanna), with Vespolina and/or Uva Rara

A red from the small Boca DOC zone, where Vallana holds vineyard land; importer materials give differing Nebbiolo shares (roughly 65 to 85 percent depending on the source) blended with Vespolina and/or Uva Rara. The estate resumed its own Boca bottling with the 1996 vintage and expanded it into regular small-scale production from the 2010 vintage.

Gattinara

Gattinara DOCG · Nebbiolo (Spanna)

100% Nebbiolo from vineyards the family owns in the Gattinara zone; described in importer materials as the estate's flagship wine.

Campi Raudii

Vino da Tavola / IGT table wine (Colline Novaresi area) · Nebbiolo (Spanna) blended with Vespolina

A declassified red blending Nebbiolo with a smaller share of Vespolina; importer listings give the ratio as roughly 70 to 75 percent Nebbiolo to 25 to 30 percent Vespolina.

Historic Spanna bottlings (Montalbano, Traversagna, Cantina del Camino)

Historic vineyard-designated Spanna, sourced largely from Boca (pre-dates current DOC/DOCG-era estate labeling) · Nebbiolo (Spanna)

Vineyard-named Spanna bottlings made by Bernardo Vallana in the 1950s and 1960s, sourced largely from the Boca zone. No longer produced under these names, but original bottles remain sought by collectors and are still occasionally tasted today.

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