Daniele Pelassa

A boutique and family wineries specialized in Arneis and Nebbiolo grapes

Pelassa is a family owned winery located in the heart of the Roero region, a rich terroir famous for its sands. Long managed in polyculture, the winery was officially founded in 1960 by Mario Pelassa. Even though the vineyard as well as the range of wines have grown a lot since the beginning, family spirit remain the key words here.

The property is still currently family managed by Daniele and Davide Pelassa. However, their parents, Mario and Maria Teresa remain very active, both in the cellar and in the vineyard. They are still running a very independent and clear project: make wines with a soul and loyalty at their origin… “We make true and romantic wines”. Currently they produce 12 different wines as Barolo, Nebbiolo d’Alba, Barbera d’Alba, Arneis, Moscato d’Asti,

Rosé of Nebbiolo… Let’s go to meet Daniele Pelassa, winemaker and co-owner of this winery.

In a few words, how many years has your life been based on wine?

Daniele Pelassa: My family has always been a wine producer in Roero, since the 90s thanks to my grandfather Giuseppe. The cellars are now managed by the third generation: me (Daniele) and my brother Davide. It all started with my grandfather, not only merely a wine producer but also a farmer, who worked the land, with animals and others livestock because at that time life in Italy was rather poor. It was difficult to live only thanks to the yield of the wine sold because the market was not developed enough. Then, after the second world war, in the 1960 my father started to run and sell only wines focusing only on the local market in the cities of Turin, Milano and others in Nord West of Italy. Then for me and my brother, it time to improve the quality and the selection by the vinification of the single vineyards and the purchasing of more hectares from neighbors. Today we have 15 hectares planted as vines. Our production is mostly exported (85%) to Europe, to Asia, to USA with just a 15% sold in the local market.

When you made the choice to be a winemaker even though your background was different, did you want to run on the business in the same way?

D.P.: First of all, to be honest I have always been in love with the economic and marketing issues. That’s the reason why I graduated from the University of Economy. Then as I was a bit older I understood that my heart was not business oriented, not linked to the finance or bank but intended for wine making and so, while I was getting my degree at the university step by steps the passion inside me grew looking at the beautiful cliffs of Roero and our vineyards. It was in that moment I decided to be a winemaker and keep going running the family business with all the complications due the differences both of the mentality and vision between me and the very old one of my father who was producing good daily needs wines. We started by changing our philosophy in increments of the technology in the cellar in order to have more of a budget to dedicate at the best vineyards to produce the best grapes as possible to produce the best wine as possible.

The generation change is always hard. How hard was it to work with your father?

D.P.: Yes, it was, mostly at the beginning because it was also a hazard, a risk to make changes but eventually my father believed in our willingness and need to change something because he realized his way of winemaking wasn’t any more the correct one and he would have never had the power to make such a big change alone. Today we are all happy for the choices taken and the work done. We are aware we can do even better

What is the signature in your wines? How can I identify them from others, especially in blind tasting?

D.P.: We try to put our signature in our two DOCG wines both produced in the Roero appellation with the Arneis and the red Roero because we believe in this special area where we have always been focusing our efforts, since the beginning of our course. Roero is a special quite different terroir compared to the rest of the Piedmont region. Our Roero is based on the Nebbiolo grapes, is made in a very classic style with some unusual shades that reminds me the Pinot Noir with very fresh and little blue fruits like blueberries.

Besides them we are also producing one Barolo, very well recommended by the world wines magazine made also in the Riserva version, which means the wine is aged one year more in the bottle, just in the best vintages. This wine comes from a very special vineyard that gives very typical and authentically floral and spiced notes. Those would be the quirks helping me to Identify

my Barolo in a blind taste.

Do you have any future plans for the winery?

D.P.: Yes, our biggest and closest attainment will be the ending of the works on our new cellar we started to build last year. If all goes well within 12-18 months we will be able eventually to improve the logistics of the bottles as well as have better daily jobs planning. This project will help also the wine production phases and backing on the land, if we find some ideal hills for the wine production we won’t miss the chance to buy them.

Do you have a small anecdote about the winery or the wine?

D.P.: The story starts with my father and his bicycle which the label of our simple Mario’s Rosso and Bianco is dedicated to Mario at the age of 10 years old started to ride out of the village to introduce the wine made by his father, my grandfather. In that period we were producing just table wines both red and white. Then he used to move it by motorbike, car and with a little truck. The winery became more organic when he purchased more hectares of vines around Montà d’Alba. That’s why we are still producing some daily wines in memory of these origins.

What does wine mean wine for you?

D.P.: It is a great passion, the reason why I have changed my life totally addressed today at this beautiful “job” aka “passion”. I live with great emotion every day when I introduced my new wines produced in the last vintages to customers and clients as the result of our choices taken from the vine to cellar. Furthermore it’s also an exciting experience each year when we are ready to present the latest release, a moment that gives us the power do better and better.