Giovanni Sordo Gabutti 2010
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This structured Barolo is still closed but already displays its impressive Serralunga d'Alba pedigree. It delivers crushed black cherry flavors layered with licorice, black pepper, clove, alpine herbs and balsamic notes alongside assertive but noble tannins and brisk acidity. It's well balanced but needs time to develop complexity. Drink 2025–2045.
The Azienda Agricola Giovanni Sordo is to be found in the heart of the well-known Barolo region, in the municipality of Castiglione Falletto – just few kilometers away from Alba, in the province of Cuneo. It’s a family-run winery, now in the capable hands of Giorgio – Giovanni’s son – the third generation of a family who has been tending and producing wines for more than a century. The estate was founded in 1912 by the great-father Giuseppe, but the real turn over came with his son Giovanni who – together with his wife Maria, the real witness of the family’s story – bought several vineyards of Nebbiolo for Barolo - the Sorì in Piedmontese language – among the best in the Barolo wine district. The soil of these vineyards – a compact calcareous marl – is rich in micro-nutrients which – together with the unique microclimate of the Langhe region – creates a perfect environment for the growing of Nebbiolo grape. It is a vigorous and difficult grape which can give amazing wines with powerful aromas and great aging potential.
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.