Winemaker Notes
The single-vineyard Barolos are produced from the most painstaking selections carried out in vineyards which tradition has preserved over time as emblems of exemplary quality. "La Rosa" represents an interpretation of Barolo of particular importance: even though it is the soil and the sun - or what is called in short microclimate - which commands man and guides his technical decisions, and not vice versa. Ruby highlights still show on its deep garnet red color, while its intense, clear-cut nose hints at spicy aromas and ripe fruit. Well balanced tannins for a young Barolo Classic. "La Rosa” expresses the qualities of the Barolos grown in Serralunga d'Alba at their best, with a marked - almost feminine - concession to grace and softness in its flavor and bouquet.
This Barolo is ideal with big red meat dishes and medium or mature cheeses, it can also make for pleasant after-dinner company.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Always one of the most elegant bottlings from Serralunga, thanks to the higher sand content in the vineyard's soil, this opens with enticing scents of pressed rose, fragrant blue flowers, pipe tobacco and a whiff of camphor. Linear, structured and loaded with finesse, the palate evokes sour cherry, cranberry compote, cinnamon and licorice while tightly knit but extremely refined tannins provide support.
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James Suckling
Attractive red fruit and roses on the nose of this beautifully focused Barolo with some real power and tannin push on the palate. Great balance and pure red fruit flavors persist fresh and long.
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Wine & Spirits
Vigna la Rosa is a 12-acre vineyard within the large Fontanafredda estate, planted entirely to nebbiolo. It gave a snappy, fresh wine in 2015, with flavors of cherry and pomegranate framed by chewy new-leather tannins. Zesty orange peel notes and soft rose petal scents add lift, while earthy tones of tobacco and dried leaves add dimension.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Barolo Fontanafredda Vigna la Rosa is one of the better Barolos from Fontanafredda, with a big, dark color and a soft and velvety entrance to the palate. While the wine is multidimensional, it also plays its cards close to the chest with moderate intensity and complexity. The structure is good, and the wine sits squarely in the mouth. Give it an extra swirl or two to open in the glass.
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.