Fontanabianca

Fontanabianca ᛡ A fifteen-hectare property in Barbaresco’s comune di Neive, owned and run by the Pola family, the name derived from the well that lies below the cantina, on the northern side of the village. Fontanabianca started bottling their Barbarescos in 1970. Now Matteo Pola is making the wines, having worked alongside his father, Aldo on an increasing basis since 2013.

In 2017 the family rebuilt the now spacious winery. It overlooks the Bordini vineyard which is at 280m of altitude, facing south-east on soft sandy calcareous clay soils. One hectare of it is consists of over seventy year-old ungrafted Nebbiolo vines used for the single vineyard Barbaresco. Vinification for the Nebbiolos is classic, with fermentation in either stainless-steel or tini di legno for 13 –25 days, remontage and delestage, followed by malolactic fermentation in cement tanks. Maturation is mostly in botti grandi with a small part in used barriques. The wines are traditionally bottled using total sulphur of around 100mg · L (c.35mg · L free).

Fontanabianca stopped using herbicides in 2013 and in 2016 signed up to the environmentally friendly ‘Green Experience’ for viticulture. Since 2015, when Matteo was required to step up in his father’s absence due to illness, they have focussed increasingly on viticulture in order to do less in the cellar. They stopped topping systematically since 2015, as it pushes up sugars and pHs, and they want lower pHs, natural sugar levels and later harvests. They no longer use synthetic fertilisers for the same reason (increasing the potassium and hence the pH), but rely instead on fermented animal manure every now and then.