Winemaker Notes
An impeccable balance. A mix of seven different single vineyards. Castiglione Falletto and Serralunga d’Alba match here in a superlative way. Aroma and finesse with power and body at the same time. Sweet nose, with hints of cherry, black currant and licorice. Fruity tannins. A union of characters.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
I like the earthiness here, with notes of fresh truffles mingling with the sour cherry and blueberry fruit. Some lemon rind, too. It’s juicy and open with a medium body, fine tannins and citrusy acidity. Drink from 2026.
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Wine Spectator
Eucalyptus, tar, plum and licorice flavors mark this moderately dense red. Starts out supple, its tannins emerging as this winds down on the finish. A bit gruff now, yet there's fruit in the end. Best from 2027 through 2042.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
With fruit blended from across seven vineyards, the Azelia 2020 Barolo has a savory character with aromas of dark fruit, scorched earth and campfire ash. The wine is lean and fresh in terms of mouthfeel, but it also shows the informality of this accessible and food-friendly vintage. In the case of this wine, it finishes with diluted flavors, but you still get the tart freshness of the Nebbiolo grape. This vintage is poised for near-term drinking.
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.