Malvirà, Roero, Piedmont, Italy

Renesio: Malvira’s prized old vineyard at sunset

Malvirà, Roero, Piedmont, Italy

The Malvirà estate is a third generation, family estate situated in Roero DOCG in the north-east corner of the province of Cuneo in Piedmont. It is particularly known for its refreshing white wines made from Arneis, but also for its bold, fragrant reds made from Piedmont's signature red wine grape, Nebbiolo. 

Zooming in to the heart of Malvirà’s 43 hectares of vineyards the historic focus starts with their 6 hectare Renesio vineyard, planted to the region’s flagship varieties: Arneis and Nebbiolo vines.  Narrowing down further we reach the heart of the 1.2 hectare 50 year-old vineyard planted to Nebbiolo producing one of the estate’s top labels: Roero DOCG Riserva Renesio.

“A vineyard with a great past, documented as far back as 1478, initially owned by the counts of Roero, then by the Malabaila counts, then by the Vigna family and lastly, since 1982 by our family.” explains Roberto Damonte co-owner of the Malvirà estate with his brother Massimo Damonte.

According to Roberto, this vineyard guarantees constant quality every year for both Nebbiolo and Arneis. The soil is homogeneous on all sides of the slopes and is composed of a mix of yellow sands and limestone with layers of blue tuff soil of marine origin, which dig deep, descending some 15 metres.

“In the 40 harvests we have worked, we have only had to downgrade the Nebbiolo produced from this 50 year old historic vineyard once, in 1992. I think that says it all about this vineyard,” says Damonte.

Malvirà estate is one of the few Roero estates that boasts a large library of wines which go back over 20 vintages and which are still available on the market, representing a precious witness of how well these wines age with time, showing the ageing potential of its Roero white wines and of its Nebbiolo reds. A unique opportunity to taste the evolution and potential of Roero DOCG wines.

For more information visit:
malvira.com
@malvirawinery