Brovia Rocche di Castiglione Barolo 2011
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James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker -
Jeb
Dunnuck
Product Details
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A bright and fruity red with dried strawberry, hazelnut and shaved chocolate character. Full and silky textured. Beautiful finish. Better in 2018.
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Wine Enthusiast
Firmly structured, this opens with scents of dark cherry marinated in spirits, baking spices, forest floor and a balsamic accent. The focused palate offers red berry, dried black cherry, clove, licorice and dried herbs alongside bracing but refined tannins and nervous acidity. Give this time to unwind and blossom. Drink 2018–2026.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2011 Barolo Rocche di Castiglione shows beautiful integration and clarity of aromas. Wild berry and forest floor is followed by spice, leather and a strong mineral characteristic with crushed oyster shell and marine layers at the back. The wine undergoes fermentation in cement vats and is later transferred to large oak casks for aging. The vintage heat has contributed to a soft and more approachable personality overall. But the wine is built to last nonetheless. I tasted through a wonderful selection of new and recent releases from Alex Sanchez that represent the 2011 and 2010 Barolo vintages, respectively. I also had an exciting sneak peek back in time to the 1990 Barolo Rocche dei Brovia that has since morphed into the Barolo Rocche di Castiglione. The big piece of exciting news at Brovia is farming is now all organic. This has been the case since the 2010 vintage.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2011 Barolo Rocche di Castiglione is a big step up, offering a beautifully sweet nose of mulled cherries, black licorice, rose petals, and bouquet garni. Incredibly elegant and seamless on the palate, with ripe tannins, it shines for its upfront charm and texture, yet has the balance and class to keep for another 15-20 years.
Other Vintages
2013-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker
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Robert
Parker
L'azienda Brovia is a traditional Piemontese family winegrowing estate. Giacinto Brovia began making wine there in 1863 followed by his son Antonio. Phylloxera, economic upheaval and finally the war interrupted production for almost 30 years. In 1953 Giacinto, Raffaele and Marina were old enough to take over the farm and resume winemaking. Family involvement doesn't end there however, after earning their oenology degrees, daughters Elena and Cristina have chosen to join their parents as well.
Grandfather Giacinto was a wise man and chose some of the best sites in the region for his vineyards. Brovia owns land in the best "cru" of Piedmont such as Rocche, Villero and Garblét Sue. These different vineyard plots represent a range of soil types, from heavier clay to direr limestone. The Brovias are extremely conscientious winegrowers and the accumulated experience of generations means that they know the characteristics of each of their vineyards, if not of each of the individual vines, and the wines that come from them. Nevertheless, they perform soil analyses every two years to ensure that the elements are in equilibrium for the vines to produce high quality grapes. Pruning is done with care and clusters are thinned again in the summer. Harvest is done entirely by hand and usually begins in late September with the Dolcetto, Arneis and Barbera, the Nebbiolo ripens later, near mid October.
Giancinto Brovia vinifies his wines in the classic style. Grapes are lightly crushed before going into the fermentation tanks. Fermentation generally lasts between 15 and 20 days at a temperature near 28 degrees Celsius for the Barolo, somewhat less for the other reds. the Barolo are aged for two years in "botti" made of Slavonian and French oak. The Dolcetto, Barbarseco and Barbera are aged mainly in stainless steel tanks, with a portion going into French oak barrels for 9 - 10 months. the Roero Arneis is vinified and aged in stainless steel. Brovia bottles his wines without filtration.
Attracting the most glory, prestige and fame to the Piedmont region, Nebbiolo in all of its expressions—Barolo, Barbaresco, Roero, Ghemme and Gattinara—creates a complex wine, truly unique for its delicate qualities combined with strength and a great potential to improve over time.
But Nebbiolo isn’t all there is to red wine from Piedmont! Barbera is the most planted variety and historically most popular as a dependable, food-friendly, everyday wine.
Beyond these two, a surprising number of red varieties call Piedmont their home. Worth a try include Dolcetto for its bold concentration and aromas of spice cake. Other grapes to investigate include Freisa, Croatina, Brachetto, Grignolino and Pelaverga.