Winemaker Notes
A Barolo of high standing, both austere and complex. Deep red garnet in color. Delicately spiced bouquet (notes of eucalyptus, licorice and menthol), mature fruit (liqueur soaked cherries, blackberries and prunes) and hints of violets and medicinal herbs. Powerful on the palate, lightly acidic and fresh. Lasting finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Coal dust and graphite with some very attractive, sweetly ripe plums and cherries. Tarry accents, too. The juicy tannins are captivating, drawing fresh and zesty red-fruit flavors in long, upbeat fashion. Launches long and holds in succulent, impressive form.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
All of the fruit in the 2015 Barolo Enrico VI comes from Villero, the vineyards just outside the town walls of Castiglione Falletto. These calcareous limestone clay soils, with lots of iron and magnesium, traditionally allow for more finesse and lighthearted elegant aromas. However, this warm vintage shows more black fruit and is characterized by balsamic and other herbal intensity with licorice and aniseed. It offers great structure and a richness that really sticks to the palate. This would be a great choice for lamb with mint sauce.
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Wine & Spirits
Marked by new oak, this red sports plum and cherry fruit that offers sweetness, as well as notes of leather, tar, spice and tobacco. Dense tannins ply the finish, yet this finds balance, if in a more muscular style.
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Wine Spectator
Marked by new oak, this red sports plum and cherry fruit that offers sweetness, as well as notes of leather, tar, spice and tobacco. Dense tannins ply the finish, yet this finds balance, if in a more muscular style. Best from 2023 through 2040.
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.