Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All Vintages
Bovio is a small company located in the heart of the Barolo area. The Bovio family, originally from the Annunziata, has reached the third generation of producers.
Gianfranco Bovio, in the 70s, began to take care of the farms of his father Alessandro, renovating the old cellar and dedicating himself, passionately, to the production of wines from his own vineyards which extend over an area of 8.5 hectares.
Now Alessandra with her husband Marco Boschiazzo continue, with equal enthusiasm, the family tradition with the collaboration of the winemaker Matteo Franchi and Robert Tofan at the reception. The company's philosophy is firmly based on respect for the tradition and characteristics of the territory starting from the careful work in the vineyards up to the refinement in large oak barrels.
The production includes 4 Baroli with geographic mention Rocchettevino, Arborina, Gattera and Parussi and a classic Barolo made with grapes from vineyards in La Morra, Barolo and Castiglione Falletto: Nebbiolo Firagnetti, Barbere d'Alba Ciotto and Regiaveja, Dolcetto d'Alba Dabbene and the Langhe Chardonnay Alessandro.
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.