An evening with Giacomo Colombera of Colombera e Garella - 3/4/26
We are thrilled to invite you to join us for an intimate evening with Giacomo Colombera of Colombera & Garella on Wednesday, March 4th, from 5 PM to 7 PM in our Cellar Room. This is a rare opportunity to taste with one of the producers leading the renaissance of Alto Piemonte—Piedmont's forgotten corner where volcanic soils and ancient traditions are yielding some of Italy's most exciting wines.
Colombera & Garella was founded in 2010 by Giacomo Colombera, his father Carlo, and childhood friend Cristiano Garella—a winemaking prodigy who, at just 13, bought his first wine guide and began spending all his pocket money traveling to Barolo to knock on the doors of great estates, desperate to learn. By 23, Cristiano was running Tenute Sella, the most prominent winery in Alto Piemonte. Today, he consults for over 20 estates across the region, but Colombera & Garella remains his most personal project—a partnership with the friends who share his obsession with reviving the wines that once made Alto Piemonte legendary.
Alto Piemonte sits two hours north of Barolo, in the shadow of the Alps, on soils shaped by a massive volcanic eruption 300 million years ago. This ancient volcanic activity created what one geologist called "a Disneyland for geologists"—a patchwork of acidic porphyritic soils with pH levels as low as 4 and high iron content that gives the wines a distinctive ferrous minerality. Where Barolo and Barbaresco have thrived, Alto Piemonte has languished. At the end of the 19th century, the region boasted 40,000 hectares of vineyards. Today, barely 780 hectares remain, scattered across tiny appellations like Lessona and Bramaterra that were nearly lost to history.
But what makes these wines so compelling is precisely what saved them from extinction: they're different. Lower in alcohol than their Langhe cousins, shaped more by minerality than tannin, and blending Nebbiolo with indigenous grapes like Vespolina and Croatina, these are wines that don't require a decade of cellaring to be approachable. Wine writer Ian D'Agata describes Colombera & Garella as an "anomaly in the fiercely traditional wine business of Piedmont"—not because of modern tricks, but because "this is Piedmont and its kingly grape, Nebbiolo, at play." The wines are generous, elegant, approachable—what one critic called "beauty run amok."
Giacomo will personally guide us through a selection of wines from their tiny 9.5-hectare estate, spanning the volcanic porphyries of Bramaterra and the marine sands of Lessona. These are wines that showcase what happens when young visionaries apply light-handed winemaking to some of Italy's most ancient and distinctive terroirs—natural fermentation, no fining or filtering, and an unwavering respect for the rhythms of nature.
Seating is limited for this intimate seminar. Tickets are $50 and include the full guided tasting as well as a $20 store credit for use towards the purchase of the evening's featured wines.
We hope you'll join us for what promises to be an unforgettable evening with one of the producers rewriting the story of Alto Piemonte.
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Description
We are thrilled to invite you to join us for an intimate evening with Giacomo Colombera of Colombera & Garella on Wednesday, March 4th, from 5 PM to 7 PM in our Cellar Room. This is a rare opportunity to taste with one of the producers leading the renaissance of Alto Piemonte—Piedmont's forgotten corner where volcanic soils and ancient traditions are yielding some of Italy's most exciting wines.
Colombera & Garella was founded in 2010 by Giacomo Colombera, his father Carlo, and childhood friend Cristiano Garella—a winemaking prodigy who, at just 13, bought his first wine guide and began spending all his pocket money traveling to Barolo to knock on the doors of great estates, desperate to learn. By 23, Cristiano was running Tenute Sella, the most prominent winery in Alto Piemonte. Today, he consults for over 20 estates across the region, but Colombera & Garella remains his most personal project—a partnership with the friends who share his obsession with reviving the wines that once made Alto Piemonte legendary.
Alto Piemonte sits two hours north of Barolo, in the shadow of the Alps, on soils shaped by a massive volcanic eruption 300 million years ago. This ancient volcanic activity created what one geologist called "a Disneyland for geologists"—a patchwork of acidic porphyritic soils with pH levels as low as 4 and high iron content that gives the wines a distinctive ferrous minerality. Where Barolo and Barbaresco have thrived, Alto Piemonte has languished. At the end of the 19th century, the region boasted 40,000 hectares of vineyards. Today, barely 780 hectares remain, scattered across tiny appellations like Lessona and Bramaterra that were nearly lost to history.
But what makes these wines so compelling is precisely what saved them from extinction: they're different. Lower in alcohol than their Langhe cousins, shaped more by minerality than tannin, and blending Nebbiolo with indigenous grapes like Vespolina and Croatina, these are wines that don't require a decade of cellaring to be approachable. Wine writer Ian D'Agata describes Colombera & Garella as an "anomaly in the fiercely traditional wine business of Piedmont"—not because of modern tricks, but because "this is Piedmont and its kingly grape, Nebbiolo, at play." The wines are generous, elegant, approachable—what one critic called "beauty run amok."
Giacomo will personally guide us through a selection of wines from their tiny 9.5-hectare estate, spanning the volcanic porphyries of Bramaterra and the marine sands of Lessona. These are wines that showcase what happens when young visionaries apply light-handed winemaking to some of Italy's most ancient and distinctive terroirs—natural fermentation, no fining or filtering, and an unwavering respect for the rhythms of nature.
Seating is limited for this intimate seminar. Tickets are $50 and include the full guided tasting as well as a $20 store credit for use towards the purchase of the evening's featured wines.
We hope you'll join us for what promises to be an unforgettable evening with one of the producers rewriting the story of Alto Piemonte.
