Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2010 Barolo sees fruit sourced from La Morra, Castiglione Falletto and Serralunga d’Alba and shows great fruit intensity with ripe tones of dark fruit (it is aged in neutral oak). Even the wine’s appearance is slightly darker and more concentrated that neighboring wines. The Serralunga d’Alba quality of ripe fruit and power really comes through, especially in the more nuanced and elegant 2010 vintage. The bouquet opens to reveal more spice and tobacco with time. The wine’s fullness and generosity work very nicely in this expression. Drink: 2017-2028.
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Wine Spectator
Rich and round in profile, boasting black cherry, spice, licorice and subtle leather flavors. Aromatic and supple, yet with ample tannins for support, this should gain in complexity over the next three to five years. Best from 2017 through 2030.
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James Suckling
Aromas of lavender and blueberry with hints of lemon peel. Flowers. Full body, super-integrated tannins and a firm finish, but round and velvety. Texture is impressive. Better in 2016.
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.