Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A tight, complex red with mineral, pumice, cedar and dried-strawberry aromas and flavors. It’s medium-to full-bodied with tight, chewy tannins and a long, flavorful finish. Extremely long and tannic, yet polished. Drink after 2023 and onwards.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The panoramic views from Arborina extend over most of the Barolo appellation with rolling hills and snowcapped Alps. The vines enjoy a sun-drenched position for most of the day. The Bovio 2016 Barolo Arborina draws its fruit from 45-year-old vines and shows extra intensity and definition that comes in part thanks to the advanced age of the plants. However, the wine also magically reflects the elegance of the site with delicate berry nuances followed by licorice, aniseed and crushed stone. Give this release of 3,300-bottles (at least) another five years of cellar aging.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of exotic spice, botanical herb, camphor and whiffs of French oak emerge from the glass. Reflecting the nose, the youthfully austere palate offers cranberry, sour cherry, coconut and menthol alongside tightly wound close-grained tannins. Give it time to fully develop. Drink 2026–2036.
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.