2019 Casa Magoni Nebbiolo: Structure, Dark Fruit & Power

About Casa Magoni

The WineThe classic immigrant success story in the wine industry often brings to mind the early days of California winemaking. Names like Mondavi, Charles Krug, and Schramsberg resonate with California wine lovers. Sippers newer to regions like Baja’s Valle de Guadalupe may not know that the same immigrant winemaker stories pop up all over Mexico’s wine country, and Casa Magoni is just one example.

Casa Magoni was founded by oenologist Camillo Magoni, who hails from the northern Italian town of Lombardy. Camillo studied viticulture in neighboring Piedmont at the Enologica a Di Alba, and while Italy is one of the most fruitful wine-producing countries in the world, on a whim in the 1960s, Camillo picked up and left his native Italy after briefly working at Valtellina’s Nino Negri di Chiuro and moved to Baja.

An Italian Winemaker’s Journey Through Mexico

Everything seemed to fall into place for Camillo when he moved to Valle de Guadalupe, and he quickly secured a position at the famous L.A. Cetto. From 1965 to 2014, Camillo crafted wines for the Cetto family. During that nearly five-decade time span, he also helped to transform the vineyard landscape by overseeing the planting and development of almost all of the vines south of Ensenada to the eastern portion of the Valle de Guadalupe. To achieve this monumental undertaking, he partnered with Domecq Group, a Spanish spirits and wine company.

Creating Casa Magoni

The creation of Casa Magoni was less a passion project and more a solution to a problem. During a particularly challenging vintage in 2002, Camillo found himself sitting on more grapes than he could sell. Rather than waste the grapes, he thought a better solution would be to start a new label that he would sell to private collectors. 

Given Magoni’s credentials, it’s no surprise that the label was a huge success, but it took eleven years before the brand made the decision to sell its wines to the public.

Experimenting with new grape varieties

One of the things that sets Casa Magoni apart from other wineries, both in Mexico and the United States, for that matter, is Camillo’s interest in experimenting with different and unusual grape varieties. In the vineyards of Casa Magoni, Camillo has 120 grape varieties planted!

Alongside Nebbiolo and Cabernet Sauvignon, visitors to the vineyard will find Greek Assyrtiko and Moscofilero and the rare Piedmontese grape Freisa. The project, dubbed Magoni Experimental, looks like it has the ability to attract new sippers who may not be interested in traditional French or Italian wine styles. 

The Nebbiolo Grape in Baja 

Nebbiolo in Baja is definitely a thing. The variety that Casa Magoni grows in their vineyards is a clone from Valtellina, Italy, where Camillo got his start as a winemaker. In Italy, the grape is called Chiavennasca, and this variety has developed in the region without interference for over 500 years, making it unique from the Nebbiolo found in Barolos and Barbarescos.

The nose and palate of wines made from Chiavennasca differ from other Nebbiolos in that these wines are lighter and have delicate notes of herbs and gentle spice, compared to the denser, more robust examples of their Italian counterparts.