Castello Conti, Boca, 'Il Rosso Delle Donne'

In the far north of Italy's Piedmont region lies one of the country’s greatest hidden wine treasures: the tiny appellation of Boca, where the Conti sisters are producing mind-blowing, critically acclaimed red wines in minuscule quantities. You have likely never heard of this region, which was once more famous than Barolo and Barbaresco further south for growing Nebbiolo — locally called Spanna. By the late 1800s, more than 4,000 hectares — nearly 10,000 acres — of vines blanketed these hills, making Boca one of the most important wine regions in all of Piedmont. But phylloxera, war, and economic migration changed everything. Investment followed the Langhe to Barolo and Barbaresco. Terraces were abandoned. Forest swallowed nearly all of the vineyards. Today, just 17 hectares — roughly 40 acres — remain planted in the entire appellation. A loss of more than 99%.

At the feet of the Alps, Nebbiolo takes on a different voice: finer, ethereal, more lifted, almost Burgundian in its transparency. The soils here are volcanic and iron-rich. Cold mountain air preserves acidity. There is tension, minerality, and perfume rather than sheer weight. And there is no producer that captures this place more honestly than Conti, led quietly and humbly by sisters Anna and Paola Conti. When you visit, there is a small shop in front selling extraordinary local products you won’t find anywhere else — rice grown in nearby volcanic soils, local honey, handmade pasta, and other treasures you wish you had room in your bag for. In the back, a modest door opens into a cellar barely ten by fifteen feet: a few large botti and a handful of older barrels quietly holding years of harvests as they age patiently before release. For years they farmed just four acres. Today, they farm a little over seven. This is one of the smallest and most special estates in Italy. Very little wine reaches the United States — roughly 500 bottles per vintage — and what does is quickly absorbed by top restaurants and a handful of collectors who understand what Boca represents.

Alto Piemonte feels like another country compared to Alba. Drive north from Barolo and the landscape shifts — the hills rise, the Alps loom closer, the air cools. Here lie the historic denominations of Gattinara, Ghemme, Bramaterra, Lessona, Sizzano, and at the smallest of all, Boca. The geology is dramatically different: ancient volcanic porphyry, sandy acidic soils streaked with iron, scattered stones that absorb heat by day and release it at night. The wines carry a ferrous, mineral tension you simply do not find in the calcareous marl soils of Barolo. Boca itself is tiny — you can drive through the village in seconds. Forest presses in on the vineyards. Wind descends from the mountains. And if you take the back roads into the woods, you can still see the outlines of ancient terraces overtaken by trees above the road, abandoned more than a century ago when fortunes shifted south. What remains feels almost forgotten — until you taste the wine and understand why this place once mattered so deeply.

The Conti story begins in the 1960s, when the family replanted vineyards on these volcanic slopes and committed to restoring Boca’s reputation. Today Anna and Paola carry that tradition forward with restraint and integrity. Farming is meticulous and entirely hands-on. Harvest is manual. Fermentations are spontaneous. Each variety is vinified separately in steel before being assembled and aged for three full years in a combination of 500-liter botti and larger neutral oak formats. Winemaking is resolutely natural, with only a small amount of sulphur added at bottling. In 1996, the sisters added the name “Il Rosso delle Donne” to mark their stewardship and place their signature on the estate’s flagship wine — an explicit nod that Boca’s revival would be carried forward by the women of the family, not just the name on the castle.

The 2017 Boca Il Rosso delle Donne is composed of 75% Nebbiolo (Spanna), 20% Vespolina, and 5% Uva Rara — and that blend tells you everything about this place. Nebbiolo is the spine: structure, acidity, age-worthiness, and that haunting rose-and-cherry perfume. But in Alto Piemonte, Nebbiolo has never stood alone. Vespolina, a native grape long grown alongside Spanna, brings aromatic lift and spice — cracked white pepper, wild herbs, and delicate florals — adding tensile energy to the wine’s profile. Uva Rara contributes softness and mid-palate suppleness, rounding the edges without muting the character. Together, they create something distinctly northern — less about power, more about nuance and interplay.

In the glass, it shows a light to moderate garnet-red core shading toward pale orange at the rim. Aromatically, it opens with dried wild cherry, dried rose petal, leather, crushed stone, wild herbs, delicate spice, and a subtle iron note that speaks clearly of its volcanic origins. On the palate, it is medium-bodied and delicately structured, often bringing Pinot Noir from Burgundy to mind. Many times these wines will show like red Burgundy in a blind tasting to those unfamiliar with Boca. Acidity carries the wine with alpine precision. Tannins are firm yet fine-grained, perfectly framing the fruit and savory nuances. There is no sweetness, no gloss, no excess — just savory, transparent Nebbiolo shaped by altitude and time. The finish lingers with detailed, intricate notes of dried cherry, rose, spice, and cool mineral persistence.

This wine belongs beside the cooking of Alto Piemonte. Think Brasato al Boca, beef slowly braised in the region’s own Nebbiolo until it yields to the fork. Or polenta concia, enriched with butter and Alpine cheeses from nearby mountain pastures. Roasted game birds, rabbit with wild herbs, or tagliatelle tossed with porcini mushrooms and a drizzle of olive oil all feel perfectly at home. Even the rice grown in the volcanic soils around Boca — prepared as a creamy risotto with earthy mushrooms or shaved truffle — mirrors the wine’s mineral depth and savory edge.

Decant for 20–30 minutes and serve in a large Burgundy stem just above cellar temperature. Then give it time. This is not a wine to rush. It will unfurl slowly over hours, revealing layer after layer. Enjoy!