2017 E. Pira Chiara Boschis Barolo Mosconi
These prices are exciting! I'm the last person to shop a close-out, but somehow I spotted one of my favorite Barolo producers, E. Pira Chiara Boschis on just such a list! It had to be a typo, I thought.
This is a good vintage. Wine from one of their oldest vineyards and excellent scores to boot. I quickly called my rep to inquire, prepared to hear it was already gone, but to my delight, there were 46 bottles remaining. I grabbed them all!
The story of this winery is fascinating. Read below in STORY about how legendary Gigi Pira died with no heirs but Chiara Boschis, still in college when Gigi died, figured out how to keep the brand alive and then helmed the estate for 20 years.
These wines have a delicate touch and precise execution and rank as a Burgundy drinker’s Barolo. What a pleasure to drink…but at these prices, don’t blink…. grab ‘em quick!
Made with organically grown clones of Michel and Lampia, the E Pira-Chiara Boschis 2017 Barolo Mosconi softly presents bright berry aromas, raspberry, wild cherry, crushed limestone and delicate floral tones of lilacs and violets. Like other wines from this hot vintage, this expression from the Mosconi cru in Monforte d'Alba has that unique floral signature that is precious and unexpected. The wine shows great depth and balance with a pretty intensity that spreads over the palate. The tannins are dry with some dustiness, but the mouthfeel is spot-on in terms of length and polish. Some 9,000 bottles were crafted.
- Wine Advocate, 94
The 2017 Barolo Mosconi is a powerful, brooding wine. Black cherry, gravel, dried herbs, scorched earth, spice and leather add to an i of gravitas. This is an especially somber, potent Barolo that needs time to soften. Even so, it will always be a brute. The substantial fine thing of beauty. The Barolo Mosconi emerges from the estates oldest vines, which are 70-80 years old, and is aged in barrique.
- Vinous Media, 95
STORY
In 1980, the legendary Gigi Pira, owner of the E. Pira winery in Barolo passed away with no heirs.
Chiara, whose family had been longtime friends of the Piras, was still a student studying in Turin. She convinced her parents to take out a mortgage to purchase the E. Pira cantina and vineyards. While Chiara finished her studies and her professional experience in Turin, her family (Giacomo Borgogno ~ founded 1771) looked after the production at Pira. By 1990, after spending a number of years working with Giorgio Rivetti, it was time for Chiara to take over the reins at E. Pira. She made some bold moves and in contrast to her family’s centuries of traditional winemaking, she took a daring and provocative path, employing green harvesting, shorter fermentations, and the use of small French oak casks. Her first vintage, 1990 was a resounding success and earned her the coveted Tre Bicchieri award from the Gambero Rosso. The rest is pretty much history.
Chiara has always believed in farming organically and has never used herbicide or pesticides in her vineyards. She has even convinced a number of other prominent producers to adopt her methodology over the years. In 2010 she began the process of certification and since 2014 has been certified organic.
With the sale of the family estate Borgogno in 2008, her brother Giorgio joined her at E. Pira. She’d run the estate single handedly for the first 20 years. With his arrival it allowed for an expansion and Chiara was able to purchase an old vines vineyard in beautiful Monforte in the Mosconi cru, and they also added several other small parcels between Monforte and Serralunga: Ravera di Monforte, Le Coste di Monforte as well as Gabutti and Baudana in Serralunga.
One of the biggest changes Giorgio brought with him was his classical approach to aging the wines. Since the early 2000’s Chiara had been decreasing the amount of new oak on her wines, first to 80%, then to 70% and then only 50%, but Giorgio’s influence pushed this even further. By 2008, the oak regiment for the Barolo had become 1/3 new, 1/3 one year old, and 1/3 two years old, and then in 2010 the first large casks arrived. Alcoholic fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tank with indigenous yeasts, and generally lasts up to two weeks. Malolactic also happens in steel, following which the wine is racked into oak for 24 months. The Barolo are not fined or filtered prior to bottling to keep the wine as whole as possible.
A close friend of Chiara had been working in the Mosconi cru for some years: the late Domenico Clerico sourced his Percristina Barolo from this Monforte vineyard; so when she heard of an old vines parcel becoming available there, she leapt at the chance. It was her first foray outside of the town of Barolo, and it immediately provided a point of contrast to her Cannubi—deep, dark colors, rich structure, and power all emanate from her Barolo Mosconi—which helps to shine a light on the elegance and perfume of her Cannubi. From 3 hectares at 400 meters above sea level, annual average production is about 800 cases.
