Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All Vintages
Ca' is short for "Casa": home. In fact, you wouldn't take Romano Marengo's for a winery at first. From the road, the house seems to exude a quiet air of comfort and family life. It is right at the top of a Langhe hill, surrounded by an endless vista of gently sloping country; a beautiful, restful home to grow children in, or to grow old in.
Then you walk up to the villa, turn the corner to its southern façade, and you see them. Terraced Nebbiolo vines, beautifully kept. The cool, clean air around you tingles with that brisk, zesty smell of must and oak you find wherever great wines are made: the Langhe hill we stand on is called Rabajà, Barbaresco's historical cru!
Here, after three decades of selecting fine wines, Romano set up a winery of his own in 1980, styling the range himself, and taking production to a yearly average of 2,500 cases.
The vineyards' total surface is now a little over 12 acres, partly located at Barbaresco, partly at Serralunga d'Alba, in Barolo territory. In spite of the winery's steady increase in size and importance, when you speak to Signor Marengo and his family (notably son Giuseppe, an oenology graduate, and daughter Paola, in charge of p.r. and marketing), you will find that first impression of Ca' Rome' - its quiet, country-home air, made for leisure and family life - had some truth in it, after all... You feel Romano grew his children and his wines with the same sterling discipline, the same sense of excellence and impeccable standards.
Ca' Rome' is a home: home to classic red wine-making, and to the very finest quality, in life as in wines.
A wine that most perfectly conveys the spirit and essence of its place, Barbaresco is true reflection of terroir. Its star grape, like that in the neighboring Barolo region, is Nebbiolo. Four townships within the Barbaresco zone can produce Barbaresco: the actual village of Barbaresco, as well as Neive, Treiso and San Rocco Seno d'Elvio.
Broadly speaking there are more similarities in the soils of Barbaresco and Barolo than there are differences. Barbaresco’s soils are approximately of the same two major soil types as Barolo: blue-grey marl of the Tortonion epoch, producing more fragile and aromatic characteristics, and Helvetian white yellow marl, which produces wines with more structure and tannins.
Nebbiolo ripens earlier in Barbaresco than in Barolo, primarily due to the vineyards’ proximity to the Tanaro River and lower elevations. While the wines here are still powerful, Barbaresco expresses a more feminine side of Nebbiolo, often with softer tannins, delicate fruit and an elegant perfume. Typical in a well-made Barbaresco are expressions of rose petal, cherry, strawberry, violets, smoke and spice. These wines need a few years before they reach their peak, the best of which need over a decade or longer. Bottle aging adds more savory characteristics, such as earth, iron and dried fruit.
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.