Muraje - Kraema 2016 Ml. 750

NEBBIOLO DI CAREMA

Carema wine is made of 100% Nebbiolo grapes, as according to existing specifications approved in vintage year 2010 and comes with two apellations: “Carema” and “Carema Riserva”. Carema (black label) has a minimum ageing period of 2 years, of which 12 months in large oak or chestnut wood barrels. Carema Riserva (white label) is aged for a minimum of 3 years, of which 18 months in large oak or chestnut wood barrels.
The colour is ruby red verging on garnet; the bouquet is refined and quite characteristic, reminiscent of macerated rose petals; the taste soft, smooth, full-bodied; minimum 12% ABV; this wine has quite a long lifespan, reaching 20 to 30 years of age so long as the bottles are kept lying on their sides, better if in the dark in a cellar or in a place with a constant temperature range. It must be served at ambient temperature (18-20°C) and possibly be opened a few hours before consumption or let to settle in a decanter. Carema is a particularly good match with roast meat, game, red meat, ripe but not strong cheeses, or drunk as “fireside wine”. Very appropriate at the end of a meal, together with dried fruit.

Vine growing in the valley of Carema is a millenary tradition and what results from hard work is a powerful Red wine which has received many acknowledgements over the centuries. The bottler of Pope Paul III born Alessandro Farnese, the author of a wine guide dated 1539, defined this wine “an excellent drink, perfect for princes and lords”.
A 16th century treaty, the “De Vinis Italiae”, made reference to Carema as a wine served at the table of Popes, of the Dukes of Savoy and served as “wine for roast meat” to the French Royals. Time has certainly not weakened the character of this wine, defined by Mario Soldati “strong and likeable as the sun and the stone”.

 TOPIARY ARCHITECTURE

The terraces are supported but dry stone walls and are filled with fertile morainal soil brought up from the bottom of the valley. Pillars having the shape of a truncated cone made of stone and lime line the terraces. Vine trellises rest on the flat stone “caps” placed on top of the pillars. In the local dialect the name for the vine pergola is “topia” or “tupiun”, while “pilun” is the name for the white pillars supporting it and which inspired the unusual definition of “Bacchus’s Temples” (by Renato Ratti).
Over and above their scenic effect, these masses of rock play a very important role: in the day they store the heat of the sun and then release it in the night, thus attenuating the difference in temperature range between day and night.

The village of Carema lies in a beautiful sunny valley north west of Piedmont and marks the divide between Piedmont and the Aosta Valley. In past centuries it has been the border with the Gaul first, and then with the Kingdom of Burgundy. Among the most ancient buildings are the “Gran Mason” and the House of Ugoni. The first is a large three storey house built in the shape of a cube dated back to the early Middle Ages. The latter, also named Tour Pierre, is a complex structure composed of a number of buildings connected with one another and dominated by a central tower. The ruins of the Castruzzone castle, the ancient Castrum Ugonis built in the 12th century and destroyed in the 16th during the war with the French, overlook the Airale hamlet. Of great architectural interest are also two ancient fountains dating back to 1460 and 1575. Another pride for Carema is its 18th century bell tower, rising next to the parish church of San Martino: it tops 60m in height and is considered to be an architectural work of art unique in its kind in Piedmont. The backdrop to the village is a spectacular expanse of vineyards clinging onto rocky slopes up to an altitude of 600 masl.

THE CELLAR

The “Cantina dei Produttori Nebbiolo di Carema” (Carema’s Nebbiolo Producer’s Wine Cellar) was founded in 1960 by a group of 10 resident winegrowers and producers.
At present, in the year 2015, the cooperative association has 101 members of which 71 contribute their grapes; they are all part-time producers with an average age of 55.

In 2013 Carema D.O.C.’s ageing cellar was refurbished. In the meantime, a number of very old barrels were disposed of and were replaced by new ones made of oak from Slavonia. At the moment barrels can contain up to a total of one thousand hectolitres.

By means of its top product, the “Cantina dei Produttori Nebbiolo di Carema” aims at safeguarding and enhancing the wine culture which is linked to the important wine growing and producing activity taking place in this special and quite unique environment dominated by the famous terraces with grapevines trained over pergolas supported by the typical pillars called “Pilun” made of stone and lime.

Carema wine is produced solely in the namesake municipality which at the moment has a surface of 13 thousand hectares and is listed in the “Albo DOC” (the Italian register for CDO wines) since 1967.