Since the mid-19th century, the Alessandria family has called Verduno, at the northern edge of the Barolo zone, home. The Pelaverga grape is cultivated only in Verduno, just down the northern slope of La Morra hill in Barolo. The grape doesn’t have much color or body, but what it lacks in tannin and heft, it makes up for in delightful, distinctive aromatics. At Alessandria, they call it Speziale, the local description for the distinctive pepper and spice of Pelaverga. Theirs leans toward wild strawberry with a dash of plum jam and decidedly herbal notes like rosemary, wild thyme and anise with a dash of freshly cracked black pepper at the end.