Winemaker Notes
Bricco Ambrogio has an intense and multifaceted aromatic spectrum. The core is soft and polished through a beautiful acid-tannic balance. There is an underlying depth in this Barolo and the finish is long and nuanced.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Plenty of burnt oranges and lemons, wild strawberries, cedar and spices. The palate is muscular and powerful, veiled in a sheen of grainy and chewy tannins that surround layers of vibrant red fruit. Drink in 2023.
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Wine Spectator
An elegant style, boasting strawberry, cherry, currant and spice flavors, supported by vibrant acidity and refined tannins. Turns chewy on the finish, where eucalyptus and tar notes chime in. Best from 2022 through 2042.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Barolo Bricco Ambrogio is Scavino's cru from this northeastern-most vineyard in the Barolo appellation, in the village of Roddi, and comprises seven hectares of mostly Nebbiolo but also some Dolcetto and Barbera. These vines with their southeastern exposure are not protected from the elements very well, allowing for more diurnal temperature shifts. Therefore, this site always produces much fresher fruit flavors. Indeed, you get noticeably crunchy, tonic fruit here along with a more detailed aromatic portrait. The wine is more precise compared to Monvigliero, for example, which offers more dense fruit, while Bricco Ambrogio is more delicate in the mouth. These soils are gray marlstone, with some yellow veins of clay in there and some sand, whereas Monvigliero soils are far whiter in nature. A fresh Barolo like this would pair well with any fatty sausage.
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Wine Enthusiast
Fragrant purple flowers, rose, wild berries and a whiff of exotic spice form the nose. Elegantly structured, the firm, youthfully austere palate offers dried red cherry, cranberry compote and star anise set against tightly wound, finegrained tannins. It’s balanced, with fresh acidity. Drink 2023–2030.
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.