By now, most of you are familiar with today's featured selection, who has become an iconic component of Some Good Wine's soul, character and brand. La Stoppa is the third member of "The Squad"––a name I've coopted, referring to the trio of natural, female, Italian winemakers, kicking ass and taking names; along with Elizabeth Foradori and Arianna Occhipinti––and slowly becoming more and more in demand every day. So much, that our intro wine today, the Trebbiolo, has been our number one online selling wine during the Covid days––almost 300 cases!!! Why? No idea. Someone tell me, and a free bottle can come your way.
But putting all of this to the side, this is one of my favorite wineries in the world (hyperbole aside) as the value for wines, in some cases, with 10 years plus is absolutely freazking bonkers. These are such soulful wines, with immense character; terroirish, interesting, bright and definitely, highly unique. La Stoppa, being a natural producer, can appeal to the natural wine lover and to those who might be annoyed by the new trend and further, don't like too much funk in their wines.
Here is a great article from Eric Asimov and here is one from the Wine Spectator. Elena Pantaleoni is going places folks!. Be on the right side of history and stock your house with some of these now!!!
Basic Info
La Stoppa is a historic estate in the province of Piacenza in the Emilia region of Italy. There are 32 hectares of vines, along with almost as much forest, plus the ruins of a medieval tower. The property was founded and planted first in the late 19th century by a lawyer named Giancarlo Ageno, whose main interest was Bordeaux varieties. In 1973, current owner Elena Pantaleoni's printer father, with no winegrowing experience, purchased the property; Elena joined him to work at the winery full-time in 1991. By 1996, a decision was made to let the non-native varietals like Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Tokay, Pinot Gris, Grechetto and Pinot Noir go, as they were not suited for the warm climate and clay soils of the area. They were replaced with local grapes Barbera, Bonarda and Malvasia (with Bordeaux varieties remaining until 2005, when those too were replaced).
The farming has been organic since the early 1990's; certification came in 2008. Elena Pantaleoni, a dedicated, intelligent and passionate grower, works closely with her enologist Giulio Armani to craft wines expressive of place and grape. Work in the cellar is minimal. Fermentation is entirely with native yeasts; maceration with skins is lengthy; little to no sulfur is used; wines are aged in a range of Slavonian oak botti and used French barriques; reds are not filtered before bottling; and bottle aging is extended. Elena eschews any DOC classifications, choosing the IGT path instead; she feels that the DOC regulations are too broad in terms of permitted varieties, geographical bounds and production techniques, and not conducive to thoughtul, artisanal winegrowing and winemaking, the priority at the La Stoppa estate
- 10% off any 6, 15% off any 12
- Wine is Available for Shipment Next Week
2021 La Stoppa Trebbiolo Barbera/Bonarda
Newsletter Price: $25.99
Our best selling wines on-line as this tends to be a fantastic introduction to natural wine. 100% Barbera. From 25-45-year-old estate vines on a slope on stony clay-limestone soils. The fruit is organically farmed and harvested by hand. It is destemmed and fermented with native yeasts and no sulfur in tank; maceration with the skins is for 30 days.
2011 La Stoppa Camporomano IGT
Newsletter Price: $37.99
100% Barbera. From 25-45-year-old estate vines on a slope on stony clay-limestone soils. The fruit is organically farmed and harvested by hand. It is destemmed and fermented with native yeasts and no sulfur in tank; maceration with the skins is for 30 days. Super high ABV at 15.5%, but you can barely feel it. Amazingly, this is the most light on it's feet wine I have ever had with this amount of alcohol. So intensely classy, ripe and ethereal. A cross between an Amarone and a ballerina.
2012 La Stoppa Macchiona Barbera/Bonarda
Newsletter Price: $47.99
50% Barbera/50% Bonarda (aka Croatina). Named for an old farmhouse in the midst of the vineyard, Macchiona is La Stoppa's flagship red. It is made with the estate's oldest vines (up to about 65 years old), grown on silty clay soils and farmed organically, with no fertilizers and with wild plants flourishing between rows. The fruit is harvested by hand, then destemmed and crushed. The juice is fermented with native yeasts and without sulfur in concrete and stainless steel; maceration with the skins lasts 45 days. The wine is aged for about 3 years in 10-to-20-hectoliter Slavonian oak botti. It is bottled unfiltered and aged for at least 2 more years before release; vintages are often not released in sequence. From the 2010 vintage on, Macchiona is back in a more traditional Burgundy-shaped bottle, rather than the Bordeaux bottle which was utilized for a handful of years.
2010 La Stoppa Macchiona Barbera/Bonarda
Newsletter Price: $49.99
50% Barbera/50% Bonarda (aka Croatina). Named for an old farmhouse in the midst of the vineyard, Macchiona is La Stoppa's flagship red. It is made with the estate's oldest vines (up to about 65 years old), grown on silty clay soils and farmed organically, with no fertilizers and with wild plants flourishing between rows. The fruit is harvested by hand, then destemmed and crushed. The juice is fermented with native yeasts and without sulfur in concrete and stainless steel; maceration with the skins lasts 45 days. The wine is aged for about 3 years in 10-to-20-hectoliter Slavonian oak botti. It is bottled unfiltered and aged for at least 2 more years before release; vintages are often not released in sequence. From the 2010 vintage on, Macchiona is back in a more traditional Burgundy-shaped bottle, rather than the Bordeaux bottle which was utilized for a handful of years.
2002 La Stoppa Macchiona Barbera/Bonarda
Newsletter Price: $79.99
Very limited, special release that––I am told––is drinking phenomenally right now! 50% Barbera/50% Bonarda (aka Croatina). Named for an old farmhouse in the midst of the vineyard, Macchiona is La Stoppa's flagship red. It is made with the estate's oldest vines (up to about 65 years old), grown on silty clay soils and farmed organically, with no fertilizers and with wild plants flourishing between rows. The fruit is harvested by hand, then destemmed and crushed. The juice is fermented with native yeasts and without sulfur in concrete and stainless steel; maceration with the skins lasts 45 days. The wine is aged for about 3 years in 10-to-20-hectoliter Slavonian oak botti. It is bottled unfiltered and aged for at least 2 more years before release; vintages are often not released in sequence. From the 2010 vintage on, Macchiona is back in a more traditional Burgundy-shaped bottle, rather than the Bordeaux bottle which was utilized for a handful of years.
2018 La Stoppa Ageno
Newsletter Price: $48.99
90% Malvasia/10% Ortrugo & Trebbiano Toscano. The varieties are co-planted and the vines average 30 years of age. The fruit is co-harvested, destemmed and fermented with native yeasts in tank. Maceration with the skins lasts around 4 months (warmer vintages usually entail a shorter time on the skins and the cooler ones a longer stretch). Malolactic fermentation normally occurs. In the spring the wine is racked into botti and aged for at least a year, followed by 2 or more years in bottle before release. There is no sulfur added at any point to this wine
