Description
The wines Boca must be made from grapes coming within the company, from the following varieties in the proportion indicated below: Nebbiolo (Span): from 70% to 90%; Vespolina and Uva Rara (Bonarda Novarese) alone or in combination from 10% to 30%.
Boca is usually a firm bodied and well structured wine with a garnet-red colour. It gives aromas of violets and sweet spices, and notes of pomegranates on the finish.
The high levels of acidity are deemed its secret ingredient. This contributes to ageing potential, making it one of Italy's longest lived reds. The local high acid, granitic porphyry soil is thought to play a role here.
Regulations on maturation reflect the style of the wines. They must be aged for 36 months, of which 24 must be spent in oak.
There are also only a handful of wineries who produce wine under the Boca DOC label, a classification received in 1970. The winemaking zone covers the commune of Boca and part of the communes of Maggiora, Cavallirio, Prato, Sesia and Grignasco in the province of Novara. Most of the vineyards are situated on hillsides northeast of the town of Novara and east of the Seisa River.
For centuries Boca has been held in immeasurable repute for its reds, once renowned among the Spanish military who occupied the Milan district.