When our friends at Vintage ’59 Imports told us they were “dipping their toes” into Italy, we were intrigued, considering the strength of their toes elsewhere.  They brought us the wines of Giuseppe Nada, a small family-run estate in the village of Treiso in Barbaresco.  We tasted and, luckily, there was not much to think about:  there was a “there there” that was undeniable, a transparent nonchalance in the glass with nothing overwrought. 

From Roy Cloud of Vintage ’59:
“On March 27, 1900, a forefather of Giuseppe Nada sealed a deal on a vineyard, orchard, and a small house on a steep hillside in the commune of Treiso. The vineyard was in the cru of Casot, and that forefather bought the parcel from a fellow by the name of Gaja....
...The Nada holdings in the two constitute six hectares (almost 15 acres), which is the totality of vines owned by this industrious family. These days, Giuseppe and Nella stay fit maintaining the vineyards where they do practically all of the work, while their daughter Barbara manages the office and their enologist son Enrico oversees the wine production down in the cellar....Once Enrico came on board, his keen intelligence and passionate direction allowed the family to go organic in the vineyards in 2014. They received initial certification in 2017, while the white vineyards will be certified in 2018 and 2019.  In the cellar, Enrico now lets all of the red wines ferment spontaneously....
...The three towns of what is now a DOCG are Treiso, Neive, and Barbaresco. They form a triangle: Barbaresco in the west, Neive in the east, and Treiso—the smallest in acreage and highest in elevation—in the south. Innately, Barbaresco and Treiso lean toward elegance while Neive can pack more power and structure, but the differences can be readily rendered mute by the hand of man. It is worth noting, however, that if it snows, it snows first in Treiso, and Treiso’s altitudes give it the widest diurnal swings.”