Manzone Barolo Le Gramolere 2004
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Fresh and floral on the nose, with bright berry and strawberry undertones. Full-bodied, yet delicate and silky-textured. Builds on the palate. A classy wine. Very well done.
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Gianpaolo Manzone is the sixth generation of his family involved in the wine industry in the heart of the legendary Piedmont region. Before Gianpaolo's father Armando started making Barbara d'Alba, Nebbiola d'Alba and Dolcetto d'Alba in 1970 in the village of Sinio, the family were well-known farmers and grape-growers.
In 1999, Gianpaolo bought vineyards in Serralunga d'Alba and began production of a Barolo Meriame and Barolo Serralunga. The age of the vineyards in Sinio have an average age of 20 to 25 years, while vines from the Serralunga property range from 25 to 60 years old (the grapes from the oldest vines go into the winery's flagship Barolo DOCG, which are situated in the best part of the famed Meriame area). Gianpolo is the winemaker and vineyard manage for the 10 hectares of vines the family owns in the two towns.
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.