Why it matters
The producer
Omar and Luana Borello farm the hillside above Mango that the Borello family has held since autumn 1990, when they bought a Moscato d'Asti vineyard on the Pian Del Bosco slope. For decades the grapes left the farm in other people's tanks. The decision to bottle under their own name came later, and when it did, Omar and Luana named the estate after that original plot.
The estate sits within the Moscato d'Asti DOCG, the appellation built on Moscato Bianco grown across the limestone and clay hills south of Alba between the towns of Canelli and Santo Stefano Belbo. Omar's family background is in Langhe viticulture; Luana trained as a wine technician in Roero, the territory across the Tanaro River that faces the Langhe from the north. Between them, the Borellos cover both sides of the landscape that defines southern Piedmont's aromatic wine culture.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Mango is a hilltop commune in the Cuneo province, positioned in the southern Langhe between Alba and Canelli. The three communes where Pian Del Bosco holds vineyards, Mango, Santo Stefano Belbo, and Castiglione Tinella, all fall within the Moscato d'Asti DOCG zone. That appellation covers 52 comuni across three provinces and is built entirely around Moscato Bianco, a grape that performs differently here than almost anywhere else it grows.
At these southern Langhe elevations, the growing season is warm enough to ripen Moscato fully but the autumns cool down sharply at night, slowing the final weeks before harvest and preserving the grape's characteristic perfume. The calcareous clay soils on the east and south-facing slopes around Mango retain moisture without waterlogging, which keeps vine stress low and aromatic intensity high. The altitude and aspect explain why Moscato d'Asti from this corridor smells as much of apricot blossom and white peach as it does of ripe fruit.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Vineyard holdings spread across Mango, Santo Stefano Belbo, and Castiglione Tinella, three communes that between them cover the hillside terrain most associated with Moscato d'Asti in the southern Langhe. All three lie within the DOCG zone.
For Moscato d'Asti, the cellar job is to arrest fermentation early, before the wine reaches full alcohol, leaving residual sweetness and a gentle natural fizz. The wine is bottled at around 5 to 5.5 percent alcohol with a light mousse from carbon dioxide retained during fermentation. The wine is low pressure, sweet, and highly aromatic, carrying the fruit character of Moscato Bianco without the heat of a fully dry wine.
Wines to know
The range in view
Pian Del Bosco produces four main wines from its hillside parcels.
The Moscato d'Asti DOCG is the estate's founding wine and clearest expression of place. Made from Moscato Bianco on the calcareous clay slopes of Mango and Castiglione Tinella, it is low-alcohol, slightly fizzing, and sweet, with the fine mousse and delicate aromatics that separate Moscato d'Asti from any other sparkling or semi-sparkling Piedmont wine. The aroma is dominated by white peach, apricot, and orange blossom; the palate is light-bodied and gently sweet, held in balance by the grape's natural acidity.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with the Moscato d'Asti DOCG. It is the wine the Borello family built the estate around, and it is the clearest expression of what the Pian Del Bosco hillside above Mango produces. Pour it cold, into a white wine glass rather than a flute, and let the aroma open for a minute. White peach, apricot, and orange blossom will rise from the glass before you lift it. In the mouth the wine is sweet but light, the mousse almost imperceptible, the acidity keeping the sweetness in check from the first sip to the finish. At around 5.5 percent alcohol, it is lightly sparkling and sweet.