Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2007 Barolo Margheria is superb. The vintage has smoothed out some of the more angular contours this wine tends to show when young, while not overpowering what remains a structured expression of Nebbiolo. Sweet dark cherries, tar, smoke, flowers, licorice and saline notes wrap around a radiant, energetic finish supported by plenty of grip. This is a fabulous wine from Giampaolo Pira. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2022.
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James Suckling
Fascinating aromas of nectarines and dark fruits follow through to a full body, with velvety tannins and lots of ripe fruit. Chewy tannins. Lots of wood too. Coffee character on the finish. It will come together wonderfully with bottle age.
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Wine Enthusiast
Don’t even think of drinking this wine sooner than ten years from now. Those tight, nervous tannins need time to slowly unwind and the wine presents beautiful aromas of cassis and red cherry that will evolve with aging. At the back of it all are steady tones of spicy tobacco and leather.
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Wine Spectator
Shows fine depth to its black cherry and black currant flavors, with shades of chocolate in the mix. There's finesse and complexity, but also firm, dusty tannins.
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.