Winemaker Notes
From Giulia’s sandiest parcels in Serradenari, this is textbook La Morra: an exquisitely fragrant, rose petal–tinged nose with sweet, caressing tannins. Pinpoint focus with tightrope tension.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Fragrant and chock–full of finesse, this radiant red opens with enticing scents of rose, woodland berry, dark spice and a whiff of wild herb. The vibrant, elegant palate delivers juicy red cherry, strawberry compote, licorice and hints of hazelnut set against taut polished tannins. Bright acidity keeps it balanced. Drink 2024–2036.
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Wine Spectator
Fragrant with macerated cherry, rose and even a hint of truffle, this expressive red is approachable now for its alluring aromas. Fluid and full of cherry and currant flavors, it has refined tannins and harmony. Mint and earth accents mingle on the finish. Best from 2023 through 2043.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This Barolo opens to smoky and flinty aromas that cover some of the fruit intensity. The Giulia Negri 2016 Barolo Serradenari shows a tart and spicy side with small-berry nuances underneath. The entire approach is soft and delicate with a mild and soft-footed impact on the palate. The tannins are dusty and finely textured. This Barolo wraps quietly and softly over the palate.
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Wine & Spirits
From a high-ele-vation plot in western La Morra, this wine is cool and juicy, its midweight frame filled with herb-inflected flavors of red cherry that take on savory and smoky notes with expo-sure to air.
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.