When Swiss wine merchant Christoph Kuenzli first visited Boca in 1988, the region was at a low point in in its viticultural history. In the late 19th century there were nearly 10,000 acres of vineyards in Boca, but that number had dwindled down to a scant 25 acres by the late 20th century! Kunenzli saw opportunity in this once exalted region, and purchased land from 80 year old Antonio Cerri, one of the last vignerons still working the land. Though still relatively obscure, especially compared to Barolo or Barbaresco, Boca is slowly regaining some of its former prominence as Kuenzli and a handful of others are making exceptional wines here. Those of you who regularly peruse the Italian section of Streetcar have undoubtedly encountered Le Piane’s 100% nebbiolo, which has been one of our top selling red wines since it was debuted in October 2022. "Mimmo", named after a particularly industrious vineyard worker, is a traditional blend of roughly 70% nebbiolo planted around the turn of the millennium, with the remaining 30% made up of croatina and vespolina planted 100 years ago. Lighter and riper than Le Piane’s show stopping Boca bottling (well worth the splurge), this 2018 vintage is at its peak right now, so don’t bother cellaring this one, drink now!