499 is named after the altitude of Camo where the winery is based, a village at the top of one of the Langhe’s highest vineyards. This is an artisanal project set up in 2012 by vineyard manager Gabriele Saffirio and winemaker Mario Andrion (also winemaker at Castello di Verduno.) Their mission is to create high quality renderings of two forgotten Piedmontese varietals, Moscato and Freisa, and to do so in a sustainable manner to preserve the soils, hills and biodiversity of the land with minimal intervention. Their six hectares of vineyards are all situated at around 500 metres altitude planted on chalky / sandy soils, from which they make 15,000 bottles. The Freisa, from a west facing vineyard, after temperature-controlled fermentation is aged for 2 months in used oak vat and finished for 8 months in steel tanks. A purer, more drinkable and faithful rendition of this wonderful Piedmontese variety you would be hard pressed to find.