Delivers freshness, good linear acidity, and gives a polite bow to richness and creaminess while avoiding buttery notes. Modestly elegant, clean, straightforward, easy drinker built for everyday pleasure. $19-25
Costebianche is the youngest of Coppo’s three Chardonnays. It gets its name from the vineyards planted in naturally white soils of clay and calcareous marl. “Costebianche” means “white slopes” in Italian. Grapes are harvested by hand into 44-pound crates, followed by soft pressing. The must is partly fermented and aged on fine lees in French oak barriques (59-gallon barrels) and partly fermented and aged in stainless steel vats. To preserve freshness and put the excellent fruit front and center, there is no malolactic conversion.
Piero Coppo founded his winery in 1892 in Canelli, a town about 17 road miles south-southeast of Asti in the Piemonte (Piedmont) region of northwestern Italy. While Piemonte is most noted for its majestic red wines—Barolo and Barbaresco, made with Nebbiolo grapes—the region also is known for its spumante (sparkling) and frizzante (fizzy) wines. Canelli is considered the birthplace of Italian sparkling wine. Moscato Bianco is most associated with Piemonte sparkling (Moscato d’Asti and Asti Spumante), but Piemonte also grows quality Chardonnay (and Pinot Noir) to make Metodo Classico sparkling wine and this still wine.
In 1910, Piero married Clelia Pennone, heir to the Pio Pennone cellars, a house that had exported wine for two generations. The Pennone buildings adjoined the Coppo cellars in the center of Canelli, and the families consolidated their assets in 1913. Those consolidated buildings continue to serve as the winery today.
The area around Canelli is one of six components of the UNESCO World Heritage site that celebrates the vineyard landscapes and winegrowing traditions of Piedmont. That includes underground passageways—“Underground Cathedrals”—built beginning in the 18th century and expanded and improved since. Coppo utilizes one such Underground Cathedral in its production, reaching 130 feet below ground where the temperature is a constant 54–57° F. The winery notes today’s barrels stand in the same location that barrels stood a century ago. It is not a reconstruction or an exhibit—it is Coppo’s working cellar. Piero Coppo was a detail-oriented winemaker. More than 130 years later, the winery still honors Piero’s legacy, although the Lanci-Soldadino family purchased the winery in 2021 from the Coppos.
Coppo Costebianche Chardonnay, Piemonte DOC, Italy 2023: Pale straw-yellow color; golden apple, pear, white peach, tropical fruit, lemon peel, white flowers, chalk, saline-mineral edge on the nose and palate. 13% ABV
Dry; acidity that is just enough to set off the fruit without becoming shrill. Light-plus body. The finish gives you ample time to appreciate the pour. Coppo respected the Piemonte Chardonnay grapes and let them do their thing. A commendable choice when one is working with grapes eager to do just about anything a winemaker wants. Coppo’s decisions produced a good, honest Chardonnay.
Pairing—Grilled or roasted branzino, sole, trout, red snapper; shrimp, scallops, crab, grilled calamari; roast chicken, chicken piccata; gazpacho with prawns; pasta primavera; stuffed zucchini blossoms, grilled vegetables. Cheese—Fresh chèvre, Robiola di Roccaverano, fresh mozzarella, burrata. Avoid sharp, heavily aged, funky cheeses.
