Boroli Quattro Fratelli Barbera d'Alba 2005
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The Boroli family is a family of entrepreneurs, with roots in Piedmont dating back to as early as 1831. The family did not embark in the winemaking business until 1997, when Silvano and Elena Boroli felt an ardent desire to step away from the pressures of their publishing business and reconnect to nature. Silvano and Elena grew the company until their son, Achille, stepped in to run the wine-growing and production business in 2012.
Achille grew up studying wine by experiencing every level of the winemaking process in a tactile and sensory manner. For years, he shadowed the winemaker at his family’s winery, tasting samples from every barrel, touching every bunch of grapes, smelling every oak barrique, until he developed an intuition. That intuition, paired with precise vineyard management and winemaking techniques, are the tools Achille uses to make wines of the highest quality today.
With the 2012 grape harvest Achille decided to radically change the methods used in vineyards and wineries, aiming for the highest quality in Barolo and its crus. He cut production levels, updated the winemaking technology, and focused on low intervention methods to raise the quality of the Boroli wines be on par with the finest Barolo wines.
For Achille Boroli, quality starts in the vineyards. From the vineyard to the bottle, Boroli’s winemaking choices are focused on one thing: producing unique Barolo wines of extreme quality. In the vineyard, quality begins with fertilizing, which is carried out every three years, using only organic materials. The density per hectare is kept at a minimum, and green harvesting is used to minimize the production of grapes, keeping only 4-6 bunches per vine, thus concentrating the efforts of the vine to the bunches of the highest quality.
Friendly and approachable, Barbera produces wines in a wide range of styles, from youthful, fresh and fruity to serious, structured and age-worthy. Piedmont is the most famous source of Barbera; those from Asti and Alba garner the most praise. Barbera actually can adapt to many climates and enjoys success in some New World regions. Somm Secret—In the past it wasn’t common or even accepted to age Barbera in oak but today both styles—oaked and unoaked—abound and in fact most Piedmontese producers today produce both styles.
An historic village situated right in between the famous regions of Barolo and Barbaresco, Alba is also the name for the larger wine region surrounding the village.
In a sense, “Alba” is a catch-all phrase, and includes the declassified Nebbiolo wines made in Barolo and Barbaresco, as well as the Nebbiolo grown just outside of these regions’ borders. In fact, Nebbiolo d’Alba is a softer, less tannic and more fruit-forward wine ready to drink within just a couple years of bottling. It is a great place to start if you want to begin to understand the grape. Likewise, the even broader category of Langhe Nebbiolo offers approachable and value-driven options as well.
Barbera, planted alongside Nebbiolo in the surrounding hills, and referred to as Barbera d’Alba, takes on a more powerful and concentrated personality compared to its counterparts in Asti.
Dolcetto is ubiquitous here and, known as Dolcetto d'Alba, can be found casually served alongside antipasti on the tables of Alba’s cafes and wine bars.
Not surprisingly, given its location, Alba is recognized as one of Italy’s premiere culinary destinations and is the home of the fall truffle fair, which attracts visitors from worldwide every year.