James Suckling Interviews: Federica Boffa

James Suckling Interviews features innovative and influential winery owners, winemakers and industry notables representing the new generation that is shaping tastes, trends and techniques in the greater wine world. The series runs every other week.

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Unexpectedly taking the helm of the iconic, 140-year-old Piedmont winery Pio Cesare after her father and Barolo-Barbaresco pioneer Pio Boffa passed away from Covid in 2021, Federica Boffa is today (along with her cousin Cesare Benvenuto) steering the business into the future at the amazingly young age of 26 – one of the youngest women to head a top winery in Italy. She recently talked with JamesSuckling.com's Susan Kostrzewa about the 2020 vintage, why traveling in person to 55 global markets a year is essential, and why she thinks Pio Cesare – and nebbiolo – is a perfect match for the modern consumer. Edited excerpts from the interview are below. 

You recently spoke with James about the 2020 Barolo and Barbaresco vintage and described it as both approachable and modern in style. How else does this vintage represent a current expression of the category?

I'm very happy that James enjoyed the 2020 vintage as much as we do. Sometimes after a very good quality vintage like 2019 it's difficult to enjoy another vintage after that. That was not the case of 2020, because the quality is really outstanding.

The expression of nebbiolo is very unique in this vintage. We described it along with James as contemporary because it is reflecting the more contemporary climate in the last few years. 2020 was definitely a warm vintage. The beginning of that spring was very warm, very dry, with temperatures above average. Nebbiolo started to flower much earlier than traditionally. However, we [already] had … a very good accumulation of water to go through the summer.

Harvest time was not really as anticipated and was much earlier. So definitely it is a vintage that reflects climate change and also reflects the style our wines will have because of that.

These are very good vintages, resulting in wines that are very approachable and very drinkable when they are young. The tannins are rounder, but very elegant and refined at the same time. The wines keep the structure and the complexity typical of the nebbiolo grape variety and of our terroirs and also preserve the aging potential.

Can you talk more about what you are experiencing as regards climate change and how you are managing these challenges at Pio Cesare?

Climate change has been affecting our region for at least 20 years so it's not something that has happened in the last few years. We’ve been experiencing this situation for a very long time and we began adapting to it with new ideas long ago. We had the opportunity of seeing if these ideas were suitable or not suitable.

I have to emphasize that climate change doesn't mean simply that temperatures are getting warmer; climate change is a mix of different elements. We are experiencing a completely different climate than our great-grandparents were. It’s almost an opposite climate. In our region many years ago, we had a big problem, which was that the climate was very cold. We had very cold winters, lots of snow, lots of rain. Summertime was also cool. So nebbiolo was never ripe enough when they were harvesting it. Nowadays it's very warm; it almost doesn't snow anymore. Winter is much shorter than it was then and summer is much longer. Summer now lasts from May until sometime at the end of October or beginning of November, with very sunny days and very hot temperatures.

The biggest challenge is the dry climate. We have a lack of water. For example, in the beginning of 2020 for almost three months we had very little rain. So the soil was very dry, and when it doesn’t rain for a certain amount of time and then it rains suddenly and it rains for maybe two days it’s like it has been raining for three months. A lot of water goes deep into the soil but the soil is not ready to catch the water, which means that we have a lot of erosion. So we are adapting techniques for situations like this.

'We are really adapting in the vineyards first rather than the cellar, always trying to respect the physiology of the plants.'

First of all, we have decided to apply all sustainable practices, employing organic viticulture and working a lot with our soils. [That includes cultivating] our plants, mineral elements and organic matter in a completely natural way without using any kind of chemicals. We produce our own manure for our vineyards. We try to cut the grass very low so that we don't steal the water from the plants. We cover the ground with leaves. We shade the vegetative part of the row using nets which we have typically used to protect vines from hail; now we are also using them to shadow the vines from sun. So we are really adapting in the vineyards first rather than the cellar, always trying to respect the physiology of the plants.

Alternately, again, with warmer temperatures we are able to produce wines which are much more approachable and much more drinkable in a way. We’re studying very carefully the ripening of nebbiolo while doing a lot of sampling during the month of August and the first part of September.

FROM THE VAULT: FEDERICA BOFFA AND CESARE BENVENUTO ON 2020 (JANUARY 2024)

Is climate change influencing where you plant new vineyards? Any new subregions or vineyards with a bright future?

We decided in 2018 to invest in an area [in Piemonte] called the Alta Langa. At 580 meters, the altitude is higher than the Barolo and Barbaresco area, where the maximum altitude is 400 meters. The composition of the soil is very similar to the soil of the Barolo area but the altitude is higher, which means cooler climate, cooler temperatures, more humidity and also more snowfall. The vegetative cycle of nebbiolo in that portion of land with higher altitude and fresher climate is similar to what it used to be [in the Barolo and Barbaresco regions]. That means the vegetative cycle is longer for ripening and grapes are harvested later than in those areas now.

We believe that it's a wonderful and magnificent location to grow nebbiolo in. We started to plant the nebbiolo in only one hectare, which we planted in 2021, and 2023 was our first harvest. We’re very excited about that, and in the fall we'll plant more nebbiolo and a little bit of chardonnay and sauvignon blanc. The terroir is so promising and very similar to the soil of the Barolo area. But the climate is even more suitable to make this wine.

In taking over Pio Cesare in 2021, you were responsible for not only respecting the legacy and vision of your late father and his commitment to creating world-class wines, but also ensuring that Pio Cesare, as a business and in the wines offered, was reflecting you and a modern approach. How have you and your team managed this balance? What are some of the new directions you have taken?

When I took the role it was, of course, unexpected because my father passed away from Covid. But I was well trained and well prepared because I was born into this winery and the wine world. Growing up, I had the pleasure of meeting many very important people of the wine business, including James. I was raised in the vineyards and in the cellar. When I took the position, we were very lucky because everything was already working. The high quality was there, the distribution was there and so was the brand recognition. And we had the support of many good friends.

Being a traditional producer, we will always be very much focused on tradition. But I always say we should consider tradition not as a cage, but as a starting point. The tradition is really our heritage, which is made up of the vineyards, of the quality of our wines, of our team, of our people, our distribution. But starting from there, I believe that we should always be thinking about the future while respecting our past.

'The tradition is really our heritage.'

 

For example, the decision of starting work on construction of the new cellar. We are located in the historical center of the town of Alba and we are the only producer still making wine in the historical center of the town. We are not moving. We're simply going on the other side of the road, expanding the actual cellar.

Also, we're focusing more on the production of white wine, which has really evolved in the last few years, not only in terms of quality, but also in terms of quantity. We are – and I am personally – very focused on white wine. I believe that is the area where we could experiment more because we have very strict appellation rules [with the reds] that we have to follow. There’s not really space to innovate with those wines.

You’re traveling almost 200 days a year to markets all over the world promoting Pio Cesare, your wines from Piedmont and beyond and Piedmont as a region. What are some of the most common misconceptions people have in particular about Barolo and Barbaresco, as well as Piedmont?

I have to say that Barolo and Barbaresco nowadays are so recognized worldwide. In the most important markets, where wine is a must, Barolo and Barbaresco are recognized as important wines and very well distributed. That was thanks to the producers in the past who started with small exports and made sure these wines were tasted among consumers. So we start from an easy point right now. They know about nebbiolo, they know about our region. They visit our region often.

At the same time, there is sometimes this misconception that Italian wines, especially Barolos and Barbarescos, have to be consumed with Italian cuisine – that very structured and powerful wines need to be paired with very heavy and serious food, mainly Italian.

That is not really the case. Traveling the world, I’ve I enjoyed Barbaresco with almost any kind of cuisine in the world, and these wines are very flexible overall. Yes, you need a base of ingredients which are a little bit richer and more serious because of the tannins of the Barolo, of the Barbaresco, the high acidity, and the very nice complexity and structure.

– Susan Kostrzewa interviewed Federica Boffa for JamesSuckling.com