Winemaker Notes
Garblèt Sue, also known as “Altenasso,” is a subsection of the cru of Fiasco in Castiglione Falletto. Soils here are of sand and clay-limestone marl, but they are richer and less well-drained than those higher on the hill in Fiasco proper. Brovia owns 0.7 hectares of western-exposed Nebbiolo here, planted between 1970 and 1979, and situated at 250 meters altitude (their lowest-altitude cru holding). If “Garblèt Sue” typically shows a smidgen less complexity than its two Castiglione Falletto brethren, it compensates with a generous, exuberant personality and a tendency to drink better earlier.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Brovia 2022 Barolo Garblèt Sué opens with a chalky line of crushed flint and pencil shaving that frames aromas of wild cherry, cassis and blue flower. The bouquet takes baby steps at first, slowly revealing its nuances, yet the 15% alcohol ultimately feels a touch disproportionate to the wine's otherwise lean frame. Despite that warmth, the finish remains finely etched rather than broad, suggesting this wine will benefit from a few more years in bottle to better integrate and gain textural harmony. Garblèt Sué, a local dialect name for Garbelletto Superiore, comes from some of the estate's youngest Nebbiolo vines, now about 50 years of age.
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James Suckling
A closed wine that deserves time to open in the glass, showing brilliant red-currant and red-cherry fruit with violets and camphor. Medium-bodied but with good weight, this has biting, chalky tannins, graphite and cardboard flavors and persistent acidity. Austere finish. Try after 2027.
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.
