Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Vinous
The 2021 Barolo Marassio is the standout in this range from Giulia Negri. It emerges from a section at the very top of Serradenari. Everything about the 2021 speaks to finesse. A Barolo of delineation and class, the Marassio offers plenty of both. Small red fruits, rose petal, cinnamon, orange peel and menthol caress the palate. This is sublime stuff.
-
Decanter
The estate’s highest plot at 537m faces west on limestone-rich soil. Like the rest of the property, it is hemmed in by forest accentuating the cool microclimate. Flinty reductive notes dissipate to reveal pepper, raspberry and delicate floral scents of dog rose. This has a bit more flesh on its bones that the Serradenari bottling but is still elegantly midweight. The palate builds with red currant and rosehip intensity gently supported by a hint of oak. Dry, grainy tannins flex their lean, sinewy muscles towards the finish, where earthy liquorice root takes over.
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.