Winemaker Notes
From a south-east exposure vineyard in Ginestra cru, this opulent Barolo, with notes of jam, blueberries and eucalyptus. Great wine to drink now or within the next 15 years.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Lots of blackberry and blueberry aromas follow through to a full body, chewy tannins and a powerful, rich finish. So much going on here. Goes on for minutes. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Approachable and open even at this young stage, the 2011 Barolo Pajana offers ripe fruit, blackberry preserves, spice, tobacco, leather, cola and grilled rosemary. These layers come together with beautiful fruit integration and focus with supple richness at the back. The Barolo Pajana offers soft, silky tannins with a solid texture. It feels firm and powerful on the palate.
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Wine Spectator
A tight, linear style, displaying cherry, raspberry, floral, spice and tar flavors. Tobacco, iron and tea elements chime in as this unfolds on the lingering aftertaste. Packs a lot of grip now, so give this time. Best from 2020 through 2032.
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.