Monte Maletto is one of the most compelling new voices in northern Piedmont, rooted in one of Italy’s oldest and most extreme wine regions. The project was founded by a sommelier who moved from tasting great wines to preserving a place he believed deserved far greater attention. Carema is not an easy region to work, and Monte Maletto exists precisely because of that challenge.

Carema sits at the foothills of the Alps, defined by steep slopes, stone terraces, and pergola-trained Nebbiolo planted on granite-rich soils. Viticulture here is ancient, manual, and physically demanding. Yields are naturally tiny and every bottle reflects the effort required to farm this dramatic landscape. This is alpine Nebbiolo in its purest form.

The wines are defined by precision rather than power. Monte Maletto’s Nebbiolo is lifted, taut, and mineral, with red fruit, herbal notes, and a saline edge shaped by altitude and cool mountain air. The focus is on purity, varietal expression, and transparency of terroir, offering a stark contrast to the richer, broader styles of the Langhe.

Production is very small and cellar work is deliberately restrained, allowing Carema’s character to come through without distortion. Monte Maletto matters because it captures something increasingly rare: an ancient region, a new generation, and Nebbiolo expressed with honesty, tension, and a strong sense of place.