Renzo Castella, Langhe Nebbiolo “Madonnina”

I’m convinced Renzo Castella is bottling the most pleasurable and varietally correct sub-$30 Nebbiolo in Piedmont, yet I had no idea it existed four years ago. Virtually no one in America did. This phenomenal discovery is all thanks to a dear friend who left an enviable job selling cult labels like Cappellano, Canonica, Soldera, and Montevertine to scour the hillsides of Tuscany and Piedmont for his own affordable roster of “epiphany wines.” When he arrived in Piedmont, he didn’t have to search long before stumbling upon Signore Castella’s spectacular Langhe since it was a geographical neighbor to a couple of Barolo’s most revered names! Not only does his tiny “Madonnina” parcel hug Serralunga d’Alba, home to the legend that is Cappellano, but it’s also a stone’s throw from the vines that produce Canonica’s $200 “Grinzane Cavour” bottling! So yes, today is one of those special days when everyone wins—collectors with deep cellars, terroir geeks, bargain hunters…anyone who’s in the posit