Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I had the chance to walk the Cannubi vineyard with Chiara Boschis this past fall. You really don't get a sense of how steep the inclines are and how powdery the soils are until you are there, struggling with each difficult step. She navigates the difficult terrain effortlessly. The 2019 Barolo Cannubi shows an etched or three-dimensional quality with sharp fruit flavors, blue flower and chalky stone. There were some weather extremes during the growing season, but everything balanced out in the end. Phenolic ripeness was easily achieved. Chiara Boschis describes 2019 as a cross between 2016 and 2017. In her portfolio, Via Nuova is the classic Barolo, Mosconi has the power and Cannubi shows the finesse of Nebbiolo.
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Vinous
The 2019 Barolo Cannubi is flat-out stunning. Rich and beautifully textured, the 2019 dazzles from start to finish. Freshly cut flowers, mint, crushed red berry fruit, orange peel, salt and dried herbs are some of the many notes that grace this exquisite, wonderfully nuanced Barolo from Chiara Boschis. Sweet floral and spice overtones build into the finish. The precision here is unreal. Aging in cask works so well here. What a wine!
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Barolo Cannubi is red-fruited and elegant, with a sweet perfume of red berries, candied roses, fresh leather, and dusty earth. It is medium-bodied and has a linear structure, with notes of ripe orange, a touch of incense, and raspberry easing through the arch, fine and approachable tannins, and a long, elegant finish. Drink 2024-2044.
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Wine Spectator
A red of depth and opulence, with black cherry and blackberry fruit accented by earth, green olive tapenade, green tea and tobacco flavors. Complex, with considerable power and length, this will require a bit more time to integrate than its peers. Best from 2027 through 2046.
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James Suckling
A very refined yet structured Cannubi with fine tannins that spread across the palate. Medium body with lovely succulent fruit of plums, berries and cedar. Persistent finish with citrus undertones in the aftertaste. From organically grown grapes. Drink 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.
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.