Favaro Le Chiusure Erbaluce di Caluso 2023

Favaro is situated in the heart of Northern Piedmont, where the local, white Erbaluce grape reigns supreme. Located in the town of Piverone, the winery sits upon the Serra mountain range—part of a chain of the oldest glacial mountains in the country. If you stand in the vineyards, you can see the Val d’Aosta mountains looming nearby, and you’re only a ten-minute drive from the red wine hills of Gattinara.

Benito Favaro and his son Camillo are quietly crafting the gold standard for Erbaluce. This isn’t a casual patio sipper; it has real structural integrity and a personality that demands a bit of focus. The Favaros work with old vines planted in morainic soils—essentially a graveyard of glacial stones—which translates into a wine with a vibrating, stony core.

The 2023 vintage shows a beautiful balance. It’s got all the zip of a cold mountain stream, but there’s an underlying density that suggests it will evolve beautifully over the next 3–5 years. It’s a geeky wine that’s also immensely pleasurable.