Winemaker Notes
Vibrant garnet red in color. Delicately perfumed with aromas of ripe red berries and rose petals. Medium bodied and balanced with well structured tannin. Ideal with well matured cheeses, duck, polenta and truffle dishes.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Although a little deeper than its fellow laureate, this 2020 Barolo is relatively pale in colour: a translucent garnet. You can read the steady, tempered heat of the summer in its vibrant, clearly defined fruits – plum, raspberry, pomegranate – lifting effortlessly from the glass. That heat was then followed, in 2022, by cool Alpine air in September which ensured the crop spent the necessary time on the vine, gently maturing, before an October harvest. The signature of that hang time in this wine is the clean, firm lines of soft tannin and supple acidity which marble the fruits on the back palate. It’s not a wine which needs further ageing (though it won’t object if you do), and it would make the perfect wine to show any Pinot-loving friends who have still to be won over to the joys of Nebbiolo in its marly home soils.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of dried leaves, green tea and sour red fruits like currant and tart strawberry leap from the glass, hinting at the complexity to come. These elements seamlessly coax the wine into a beautiful, elegant expression, with a core of vibrant, mouthwatering red fruits that dance on the palate. Savory herbs intertwine with the fruit, leading the senses down a memory lane of flavor. The wine’s structure is fine and delicate, with a subtle astringency emerging near the finish, yet the lively acidity provides a refreshing lift, leaving a lasting impression of finesse and balance.
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James Suckling
This is a juicy and supple Barolo offering notes of red and dark berries, mild spices, dried rose hips and potpourri. Medium-bodied, succulent and mouth-filling, with dusty tannins and a sleek, red-fruited aftertaste.
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.