Michele Chiarlo Nizza Cipressi 2023
£23.45
The wine
Nizza is Barbera at its most serious, and this is an exceptional example showing wonderful clarity and elegance. Red berries, ripe cherry and wild raspberry meet sweet notes of tobacco. Complex and structured, with a rounded, silky texture and a pleasing savoury finish.
Nizza became its own DOCG in 2014, carved out of Barbera d'Asti to recognise its best hillside sites, and it comes with considerably stricter rules: lower yields, longer ageing and Barbera alone. It was the appellation that finally confirmed Barbera could be a serious wine rather than a useful one. Cipressi is named for the cypresses on the estate.
The producer
Michele Chiarlo
View all Michele Chiarlo winesFounded at Calamandrana in 1956 and now run by Michele Chiarlo's sons Alberto and Stefano, this is one of Piedmont's most decorated houses. Michele himself came from a family of growers in the Monferrato and built the estate outward from Barbera country into the great Nebbiolo hills.
The family hold parcels in two of the finest Barolo crus, Cannubi and Cerequio, and in La Court at Nizza, the small appellation carved out of Barbera d'Asti in 2014 for its best hillside sites. Every vineyard is farmed sustainably to Equalitas certification. The house philosophy is that oak should be used judiciously so the vineyard speaks first, which in Piedmont has not always been the fashion.
Chiarlo has also done more than most to argue that Barbera deserves serious treatment rather than being the grape Piedmont drinks while waiting for its Nebbiolo. The Barolo and Barbera wines draw 90-plus scores from Wine Advocate, James Suckling and Wine Enthusiast year after year, and in 2025 Michele Chiarlo was named European Producer of the Year at the Sommelier Wine Awards.
