Luigi Oddero Barolo 2013
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Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Bright garnet red with light orange hues. Unmistakable bouquet, intense and pleasantly persistent. Hints of sweet spices, forest fruit, mountain hay, licorice. Dry, soft and velvety finish. Excellent structure and aromatic longevity.&
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of rose, crushed herb, red berry and a balsamic note take shape in the glass. Elegant, fresh and poised, the palate offers black raspberry, red cherry baking spice and a hint of licorice framed in youthful but polished tannins. Drink 2020–2028.
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James Suckling
Soft and pretty 2013 with dried berry, cedar, tar and dried flower character. Medium to full body, chewy tannins and a savory finish. Really pretty now but better in two years.
Other Vintages
2019-
Wine
Spectator
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker
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Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling
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Wine
Enthusiast
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator
Luigi Oddero is a historical winery from La Morra in Piemonte, one of the patriarchs of Barolo, which was already producing wines with a proper label back in 1878. The story of the family dates back to the 19th Century when the brothers Luigi and Lorenzo, winegrowers and oenologists stared vinifying Barolo, Dolcetto and Barbera wines. Now the estate is guided by Lena Oddero, the wife of the last Luigi Oddero who is preserving this important heritage for his children Giovanni and Maria, the next generation and the future of this small but important winery, part of the history of Barolo and Piemonte.
The wines are aged according to the traditional methods in big barrels in the oldest part of the winery, the walls have more than 300 years, the optimal level of humidity makes it a perfect place for the conservation of the wine and for long aging.
The vineyards of Luigi Oddero are dislocated in different areas and have exceptional positions, Oddero has part of some of the most important cru of Barolo as Vigna Rionda at Serralunga and Rocche Rivera at Castiglione Falletto.
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.