Piedmont Club - November 2025

Despite my best efforts to avoid it, we have yet another fully Nebbiolo Piedmont club for November. I doubt that anyone is upset about that.

Nebbiolo wears a lot of faces in Piedmont, and this month we’re pouring two that tell the story from opposite directions. One comes straight from the Barolo hills with energy and clarity, and the other arrives from Piedmont’s alpine edge with lift, mineral bite, and real finesse. Both wines are honest, transparent, and deeply drinkable.

Cascina Penna-Currado Langhe Nebbiolo Bricco Lago 2023

Cascina Penna-Currado is the family project of Elena Penna and Luca Currado and their full time pursuit since they left Vietti in early 2023. The style is exactly what you would expect from that lineage: careful farming, clean cellar work, and a steady hand on ripeness. Bricco Lago is a single site in Monforte d'Alba, the southernmost town of the Barolo zone. The wine, however, isn't trying to be a baby Barolo. It's much more than that in its vivacity with bright red fruits and floral notes lacking the massive structure of a more age-worthy proper Barolo. Don't take that to mean Langhe Nebbiolo is inferior; they are just intended to be approachable in youth, and don't stress over opening this lovely bottle young. 

This is the side of Nebbiolo that shines with simple food and relaxed company. Serve it with tajarin and butter, roast chicken with fennel, or a mushroom-heavy pizza, and it will hold its own without stealing the show. A gentle chill can emphasize the snap and citrusy lift. It drinks beautifully now and will stay lively through 2028. Fans of this wine should seek out the rest of their lineup, and the world waits in anticipation of their first Barolo release expected in 2027. 

Ferrando Carema “Etichetta Bianca” 2019

I have wanted this bottle in Piedmont club since before the club existed. The price was high, however. Yet, somehow in this world where so many things seem to go wrong it fell into our lap at a much more approachable tariff - one without tariffs at all!

Carema sits where Piedmont begins to climb, and Ferrando remains the benchmark name on those terraces. The white-label bottling captures the appellation’s character with striking precision. They also make a riserva black label version which is more tannic and more expensive. Aromas of dried rose, wild strawberry, blood orange, alpine herbs, and a faint iron edge move in and out as the wine opens. The structure is firm but lacy, with tannins that frame the fruit rather than overwhelm it. Large neutral casks and patient aging give the wine poise on release while preserving a long arc for development. The really stunning thing about wines from Ferrando is the aging ability on such a light-feeling frame. 

This bottle loves straightforward, savory cooking. Try grilled trout with lemon and herbs, polenta with wild mushrooms, fontina-laced gratin, or a simply salted steak when you want elegance ahead of power. If you open it this week, give it 30 to 45 minutes in a decanter. The drinking window is excellent now and should stretch comfortably for at least 10 more years, with more tertiary complexity if you wait.

Two distinct routes, one grape. The vibes are similar but the wines are different largely due to the distinctly different terroirs they come from. We are lucky to have Nebbiolo -- sometimes I'm not sure we deserve it as humans in a world where sweetened red blends outsell the entire category. For those who get it, enjoy the pleasures!