Winemaker Notes
In 1920 Cavalier Lorenzo Scavino began to vinify part of the grapes produced in the family's vineyards, a small rural reality in the heart of the Langhe region, in Castiglione Falletto.
His son Alfonso started enthusiastically to bottle the wine produced and thanks to Luigi's father, Lorenzo, with perseverance and willpower, the wines were for the first time exported.
The Azienda Agricola Azelia, in the centre of the area of Barolo production, is nowadays composed of 16 hectares and it produces, on average, 80,000 bottles per year. Luigi is supported by his wife Lorella and his son Lorenzo, who bears the name of his grandfather and who represents the fifth generation of wine producers. The family management is essential as it permits an extreme precision in every step of the production.
Great care is given to the work in the vineyards. Wine is made there from old vines which produce very few grapes. The low yields are further reduced through the green harvest, indispensable to select fruits, to have a uniform ripening and an impeccable quality.
It is fundamental a scrupulous attention in the cellar where the respect for the tradition does not exclude the contribution of modern techniques.
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.
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.