Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
I love the core of ripe fruit here, with dark berries such as blueberries and bramble berries. Full bodied, with velvety tannins and a long intense finish. Classic style Barolo. Try it in 2014.
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Wine Enthusiast
Mario Marengo’s Barolo offers spicy notes of clove and nutmeg at the back of bright berry, cola and coffee. The wine boasts generous fullness and depth thanks to its ripe tannins and long, silky feel. Drink in 5–10 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Marengo’s 2007 Barolo offers up red berries, crushed flowers, licorice and spices in a classic, mid-weight expression of Nebbiolo typical of La Morra that is given just a touch more generosity than normal in this vintage. This soft, inviting Barolo is an ideal choice for drinking over the next few years. Floral notes add lift on the pretty finish. The Barolo is made from vineyards in Fontanazza and Bricco Viole, plus fruit from Elio Altare’s Arborina Marengo obtains in exchange for his Brunate. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2017.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
The center of the production of the world’s most exclusive and age-worthy red wines made from Nebbiolo, the Barolo wine region includes five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village itself, as well as a few outlying villages. The landscape of Barolo, characterized by prominent and castle-topped hills, is full of history and romance centered on the Nebbiolo grape. Its wines, with the signature “tar and roses” aromas, have a deceptively light garnet color but full presence on the palate and plenty of tannins and acidity. In a well-made Barolo wine, one can expect to find complexity and good evolution with notes of, for example, strawberry, cherry, plum, leather, truffle, anise, fresh and dried herbs, tobacco and violets.
There are two predominant soil types here, which distinguish Barolo from the lesser surrounding areas. Compact and fertile Tortonian sandy marls define the vineyards farthest west and at higher elevations. Typically the Barolo wines coming from this side, from La Morra and Barolo, can be approachable relatively early on in their evolution and represent the “feminine” side of Barolo, often closer in style to Barbaresco with elegant perfume and fresh fruit.
On the eastern side of the Barolo wine region, Helvetian soils of compressed sandstone and chalks are less fertile, producing wines with intense body, power and structured tannins. This more “masculine” style comes from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The township of Castiglione Falletto covers a spine with both soil types.
The best Barolo wines need 10-15 years before they are ready to drink, and can further age for several decades.