Oltretorrente's 'Slow Wines' | Tortona, Piedmont
Chiara Penati & Michele Conoscente at Oltretorrente
Oltretorrente is an independent organic winery founded by a young wine-obsessed couple from Milan and their two young daughters set atop the smooth rolling hills of Tortona.
After several years working for more conventional wineries, Chiara Penati and her husband Michele Conoscente started Oltretorrente in 2010 with the purchase of 1.5 hectares of vines.. Both agronomists from Milan who had worked all over Italy, they had several ideas about where to create their own reality and decided on the sleepy village of Paderna, set in the hills of the Tortona region (Colli Tortonesi) in southeast Piedmont, where there are only 30 estates bottling wine and playing a crucial part in the revival of an intriguing and almost extinct grape variety, Timorrasso.
The results are four beautiful artisanal wines that regularly receive recognition from publications such as The Slow Wine Guide and can be found in fine wine institutions such as Chambers Street Wines in NYC!
The name Oltretorrente means “Beyond the Stream” in reference to the Scrivia, a tributary of the Po River, it also translates to 'Against the Current” which is equally applicable as Michele and Chiara are uncompromising in their principles and craft even when it would be too challenging for many (i.e. shortly after starting Oltretorrente, the government funding they were relying on did not materialize yet they found a way to continue on). Today, the estate covers 7.5 hectares (7 are owned and 0.5 are rented and fully farmed). The vines range from 15 to just over 100 years old at altitudes up to 300 meters, with slopes so steep that when it rains too much, their small caterpillar tractor is useless and they have to do the all of the vineyard work the old-fashioned way. Current total production is 25-30,000 bottles, up considerably since 2018, when some new vineyards were acquired.
The Oltretorrente wines are available in Ontario exclusively through Apparition Wines and are brought in small allotments once per year.
Oltretorrente’s Barbera Superiore Colli Tortonesi DOC - Made from Vines Ranging 60-100 Yrs Old