The estate’s eponymous ‘Santuvario’ red is pulled from their younger (20-to-40-year-old) vines, a blend always of 50% Nebbiolo and a varying amount of Croatina, Vespolina and Uva Rara. Vineyards lie at around 400 meters in elevation among steep hills in the middle of woods on porphyry-rich volcanic soils; they are farmed organically and entirely by hand. The bunches are hand-harvested, destemmed and co-fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel tank, then pressed by hand in a small torchio press into a single 1700-liter Austrian oak botte where the wine ages for a year. Bottled without filtration and aged for another year. Sulfur is used sparingly. Classified as a ‘Vino Rosso’ since it doesn't spend the DOC-required 18 month-minimum in wood (plus, Ivano is skeptical about the bureaucracy and quality of the Boca DOC), its vintage is represented on the label by Roman numerals. The label is an artistic rendering of the local Boca topographical map by Paola Barbaglia, Ivano's partner in the winery.
A wine of incredible complexity and poise, vertical and deep, with notes of red cherry, milk chocolate, mushroom, leather, crushed rock, underbrush, and goji berry on the nose. It shows herbs, earth, and gentle spices, dark fruits as well as warm hazelnut tones, black tea, graphite, and a great salty-bitter minerality on the palate. Finely built and medium-bodied, racy acidity carries through to a fresh, balsamic finish. Ivano’s are some of the purest Nebbiolo-based wines we know and this ‘entry-level’ offering is the quintessential expression of all that is great from the region.