Winemaker Notes
100% Nebbiolo da Barolo, Lampia sub-variety of Nebbiolo
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Extremely aromatic with dried roses on the nose complement spice and plum undertones. Full-bodied, dense and lightly chewy with a beautiful depth and richness. Such great length and polish. A wine with wonderful composure.
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Wine Enthusiast
Classic Nebbiolo aromas of wild red berry, forest floor, rose and new leather fills the glass. The taut full-bodied palate delivers crushed Morello cherry, raspberry compote, licorice and a hint of tobacco framed in firm refined tannins. Fresh acidity lends balance. It's already delicious but hold for even more complexity.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This wine is not labeled Riserva but it could be because it is released with an additional year of aging in both barrel and bottle. The 2012 Barolo Ravera Bricco Pernice is a dark and velvety wine with a broad aromatic reach. Compared to 2013, this vintage is less successful, in my mind, when it comes to clarity and aromatic focus. This wine shows less depth as a result. The bouquet is powerful and broad with black fruit, prune and dark spice. The finish shows weight and concentration.
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Wine Spectator
Offers an appealing grassy aroma characteristic of the '12s, along with dusty cherry, graphite, tobacco and tar flavors. Dense and compact, yet fresh, lingering with savory elements of tobacco and mineral.
The Cogno family has been making wine for four generations in Piedmont. In 1990, Elvio Cogno left a long and fruitful partnership with the venerable Barolo producer Marcarini at La Morra and bought a splendid, historic 18th-century farmhouse on the top of Bricco Ravera, a hill near Novello in the Langhe area. (Novello is one of the 11 communes in which Barolo is produced.) The farm was surrounded by 11 hectares (27.18 acres) of steeply sloped vineyards. Elvio restored the manor, converted the old granaries to wine cellars and founded his eponymous winery. For the next 20 years he devoted himself to the winemaking traditions handed down to him by his father and grandfather.
Elvio, in turn, has now passed the torch to his daughter, Nadia, and her husband, Valter Fissore, who has worked beside Elvio for 25 years. Following in the footsteps of Elvio the maestro, Elvio Cogno winery continues to produce elegant wines without altering the traditions, styles and flavors of the Langhe, with its breathtaking quilted landscape and unique grape varieties.
The Elvio Cogno winery sits at the top of Bricco Ravera, a hill near Novello in the Langhe area of Piedmont, one of the 11 communes in which Barolo is produced. Ravera is the finest cru of Novello, encircling the top of the hill and the winery, reaching a 380-meter (1,246-foot) elevation, with breathtaking views in all directions.
Attracting the most glory, prestige and fame to the Piedmont region, Nebbiolo in all of its expressions—Barolo, Barbaresco, Roero, Ghemme and Gattinara—creates a complex wine, truly unique for its delicate qualities combined with strength and a great potential to improve over time.
But Nebbiolo isn’t all there is to red wine from Piedmont! Barbera is the most planted variety and historically most popular as a dependable, food-friendly, everyday wine.
Beyond these two, a surprising number of red varieties call Piedmont their home. Worth a try include Dolcetto for its bold concentration and aromas of spice cake. Other grapes to investigate include Freisa, Croatina, Brachetto, Grignolino and Pelaverga.