Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Bright and aromatic with fresh flowers, dried berry and citrus character. Full body, firm tannins and a racy and beautiful finish. So much going on here. Why wait? Drink now or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
Rose, violet, red berry, cake spice and aniseed are some of the aromas you'll find on this delicious Barolo. On the balanced palate, notes of tobacco, licorice, clove and dried herb accent the juicy cherry-berry core. Ripe, firm tannins and fresh acidity provide structure.
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Wine Spectator
A rich, round style, boasting cherry, berry, cedar and licorice flavors. Packed with sweet fruit, this is dense, with dusty tannins clinging to the long finish. Best from 2018 through 2030.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2011 Barolo Serralunga d'Alba is a soft and luscious expression with bold tones of dark fruit and dried cherry. The heavy soils of the vineyard have conspired with the warm summer temperatures to produce an opulent and immediate interpretation of Nebbiolo. This wine is all about upfront likability and first impressions. It delivers its entire bounty by the time you take your first sip. It leaves little to the imagination. For this reason, it makes a great option for near-term consumption.
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.