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Lying along the evocative hills around Biella, Villa Era is an elegant XIX century residence surrounded by a large park, built on a rural structure dating back to the XVI century; in that very area, excellent red wines were produced two or three centuries ago.

Villa Era was built between 1884 and 1888 for the Magnani family – building contractors from the Cervo Valley. The architect Petitti from Turin was tasked with its building project. The villa now stands adjacent to the original XVIII century structure, with the wine cellar, the grape processing rooms and the tower. The new building, with a monumental and symmetrical look – featuring with a projecting central body – is equipped with a portico and loggia raised of one floor. The facade features two flights of stairs connecting the entrance to the terrace in front of it. The facade has a strong classical imprint, especially regarding its proportions and symmetry, as well as the columns with Doric capitals, the epistyle embellished with frieze, the tympanums, and the windows.
In 1935, the property was bought by Ermanno Rivetti, a textile entrepreneur from Biella; the villa still belongs to his family.
The current owners have been responsible for the reconstruction of the ancient vineyard, replanting the vines and recovering the original drainage system. Today, the park of Villa Era is the only one featuring a vineyard inside (and vice versa) in Italy.

Il parco

The park surrounding the building dates to the same period and still retains several typical elements of the XIX century gardens, (the ones in Piedmont, in particular). The large conifers with firs, yews and Lebanon cedars (Cedrus libani) are quite predominant, along with beeches and several exotic essences such as magnolias, paulownias, sophoras, lagerstroemias and scrubs of shrubs such as tamarisks, rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, hollies, osmantus, Japanese snowball (Viburnum plicatum tomentosusm “Lanarth”), hydrangeas, and forsythia.

In front of the terrace, there are some Chamaerops excelsa, exotic elements typical of many gardens of Piedmont. The park also includes two monumental plants: a red beech (Fagus sylvatica “Atropururea”) and, on top of the hill, a magnificent 200-year-old holm oak (Quercus ilex), at the foot of which there’s the famous roundabout which gives its name to the wine currently produced today at Villa Era.

Some details outside the building and the very arrangement of the terrace in front of the villa corroborate the alleged supervision of the gardener Giuseppe Roda (1854-1892) during ita construction.
There is also a XIX century greenhouse, made as a natural rock cave, with stalactites and stone concretions, created by the famous “cave expert” Tiziano Bianchi; Ermanno Rivetti used to cultivate his orchids right there, next to some rock formations; the result of his endeavour was eventually widely acclaimed with prizes and prestigious awards.

In 2006, the current owner started the restoration of the garden, with the help of the landscape architect Filippo Pizzoni and the English gardener Nick Crosby; such intervention included the ancient vineyard that extends like an amphitheatre to the north of the villa.
After intense cleaning, the river cobblestone road that runs up the hill from the villa was fully restored to its original beauty: once again, it was lined with pomegranates, roses, lavender and Lespedeza thunbergii; the large vegetable garden, the roses and the beautiful cut flowers were revived as well; some magnolias, ancient fruits, meadowsweets, roses, and peonies were planted; a pergola of roses “Clair Mati” was eventually created along with the avenue of flowering apple trees towards the vineyard, a mixed border, and a grove of flowering cherry trees.

The vineyard

Villa Era grapes benefit from the privileged exposure of the vineyard, on the Vigliano hill: of Pliocene origins, the latter is covered by a peculiar layer of soil called “Astiano”, consisting of sandy clays, gravels and marlstone with marine fossils. The quality of the soil, the perfect exposure and the highly suitable climate, particularly good for Nebbiolo grapes (the main variety in this area), have allowed the production of historically celebrated and internationally acclaimed wines.

The wine

The vineyard covers 2.5 acres on the hill that surrounds the garden of Villa Era. After the restoration, which took place between autumn 2006 and spring 2007, and the planting of 1500 layers (new offshoots) to replace the damaged ones, “Rondò” wine was born – it will soon be granted back his historical registered name.

With the 2011 harvest, Villa Era was literally reborn: the vineyard was, in fact, awarded “Coste della Sesia Nebbiolo” Controlled Designation of Origin (D.O.C.) certificate. Such major recognition was possible thanks to hand-picked Nebbiolo and Vespolina grapes, aged in small wood barrels for 18 months and then in the bottles: the wine features a ruby red colour, with garnet tones, a fine elegant bouquet with floral and small notes of red fruits and spices. Elegant and fresh to the taste, with an intense and tannic structure, it leaves a fruity and spicy aftertaste. It can be enjoyed at its very best with traditional Piedmont dishes.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)