Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
When Giuseppe Vaira and his team took over winemaking at this estate, one of their first moves was to create this cuvée with fruit from younger vines in the Cerretta and Baudana crus. The first release was from the 2005 vintage and they called it Barolo Serralunga d’Alba, eventually changing the name to Barolo del Comune di Serralunga d’Alba when the MGA rules were approved in 2010. The wine exhibits some of the power of this commune in its chiseled tannins, yet its red cherry and pomegranate flavors are unusually fresh and appealing in youth, accented by notes of licorice and mint.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Barolo del Comune di Serralunga d'Alba achieves a loose and open fiber that gives this wine the most accessible personality among these three Baroli released by Luigi Baudana (owned by G.D. Vajra). On the Barolo scale, the fruit is sharp and straightforward with easily identifiable tones of black cherry, plum and cassis. The intensity of that characteristic Nebbiolo licorice and cola is downplayed in this wine, as dark fruit is the leading force. However, this vintage introduces the acidity and natural structure to play the wine forward for 10 years or more.
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Wine Enthusiast
Fragrant aromas of blue-flower, forest-berry menthol form the enticing nose. Smooth, taut and delicious, the focused palate delivers juicy Marasca cherry, spiced cranberry and star anise alongside firm, polished tannins and bright acidity. Drink 2023–2031.
Luigi Baudana is one of the last garagiste estates in Langhe. With just 4 quality hectares, located in some of the most prestigious Barolo crus in Serralunga d'Alba. The wines of the Luigi Baudana collection are an expression of powerful, genuine and true-to-terroir wines, expressing the best of the Nebbiolo grape.
The origin of the cellar is lost in time: Baudana is the name of the family, but it is also the name of the vineyard and of the hamlet of Serralunga d'Alba, where the winery is located.
For over thirty years, Luigi and Fiorina Baudana have grown the vineyards that have belonged to their family for generations. They cared for their vineyards with the same tenderness of their own love and with the same warmth emanating from their cellar, born under the vaults of their home.
From the very beginning, the Vaira family have been impressed by Luigi and Fiorina's ambition, as well as pride in their work. Their mission every day is for Luigi and Fiorina to be proud of the vineyards and of the wines, whilst perpetuating their gestures and seeking for the authenticity of every single vineyard.
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.