Il Sorpasso
Il Sorpasso website
Il Sorpasso is a small winery in Carema, a tiny appellation at the Northwestern edge of the Piemonte, which borders the Valle D’Aosta. Vittorio Garda and Martina Ghirardo started the winery in 2012 when they rented their first vineyard in Carema. After two years of hard work they were ready to start making wine. The cultivable areas within Carema are very small, literally carved from the mountains, at between 300 and 700 meters altitude. The little vineyards are spaced up the mountainside, just tending the vines is an adventure, and all the work must be done by hand. At harvest, grapes are gathered and carefully transported down the mountain in small baskets.
Vittorio and Martina farm organically and focus on native grapes of the region. Their mainstay is Picotendro (a local variety of Nebbiolo) but they also have some parcels of Neretto and Ner d’Ala. Their 2014 vintage was made off-site as they were still renovating their 200 year-old house to become a home and a wine cellar. They managed to get it ready just in time to vinify the 2016 vintage. They have increased their holdings through hard work and perseverance and now have 1 hectare of vines (there are only 13 hectare in all of the Carema DOC).
They farm organically, and are focused on native grapes.