Winemaker Notes
The 2016 Luigi Pira Barolo Margheria is a garnet red color. Very intense and complex nose with notes of fruit and flowers and hints of leather and fresh hay. In the mouth it is full-bodied, elegant, with pleasant tannins that are typical of Nebbiolo and of the wines made in the area of Serralunga d’Alba. Perfect balance between tradition and innovation.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Luigi Pira 2016 Barolo Margheria is a soulful wine that opens to a floral bouquet marked by blue flower, pressed violet and lilac. Those aromas are wonderfully elegant and nuanced, and the wine sports a graceful and polished personality. Nothing is out of place. At the core, you get wild berry and cassis. Dig a little deeper to discover rusted iron or ferrous earth. Fruit is sourced from a 1.5-hectare site with classic Serralunga d'Alba calcareous clay soils that lend more structure and power to the wine.
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Wine Spectator
Rose, cherry and white pepper aromas and flavors highlight this silky, elegant red, which shows ample structure in the form of bright acidity and refined tannins. The fine harmony and terrific length complete the profile. Best from 2022 through 2040.
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.