Castello Conti

### History Castello Conti is one of a handful of producers working the Boca DOC, a small and historically important appellation in the Alto Piemonte that fell into near-total obscurity during the latter half of the twentieth century. The estate takes its name from the Conti family, whose connection to the zone stretches back several generations. Like much of Alto Piemonte, the area around Boca suffered dramatic vineyard abandonment through the 1960s and 1970s as industrial employment pulled labor away from the hills, and many terraced sites were reclaimed by forest. Castello Conti was among the properties that survived that contraction, though in reduced form. The revival of serious winemaking here belongs to the broader rediscovery of Alto Piemonte that began gathering momentum in the 1990s and accelerated through the 2000s, when producers and critics started to look again at what Nebbiolo could do outside of Barolo and Barbaresco on the ancient volcanic soils further north.

### Vineyards Boca sits in the province of Novara, on soils derived from porphyry and other volcanic and metamorphic rock, with significant mineral complexity and relatively low fertility. The climate is cooler and wetter than the Langhe, with the Alps providing a barrier to the north and the lakes moderating extremes. Vineyards here tend to sit at moderate altitude on steep hillside terraces, many of them old. Nebbiolo is the dominant variety under the Boca DOC regulations, typically blended with a portion of Vespolina and occasionally Uva Rara. The combination of volcanic substrate and cool ripening conditions produces wines with a structure and aromatic register distinctly different from their southern Piedmontese counterparts. Specific details about Castello Conti's certified farming practices are not publicly documented in detail.

### Winemaking The estate produces wines across two main tiers: the Boca DOC bottlings, which include the single-vineyard or selection-level Il Rosso delle Donne, and the broader Spanna and Origini labels, which draw on the same Nebbiolo-dominant blends under less restrictive appellations. The Boca DOC requires extended aging before release, and the wines from this estate reflect that framework, typically showing the firm, iron-edged tannins and dried-rose aromatics characteristic of the zone. The Spanna and Origini lines offer earlier access to similar material in a somewhat more approachable register. Details about specific vessel use, oak type, or fermentation protocols are not consistently documented in public sources, but the wines across the reviewed vintages suggest a restrained, traditionally oriented approach rather than one seeking extraction or new-oak influence.