Winemaker Notes
Garnet-red in color with ruby reflections. Intense perfume with clean scent of roses, vanilla, licorice, spices and toasted oak. Gentle notes of absinthe. The flavor is full and elegant, good- bodied and austere with recurring olfactory sensations. The spicy note and the hints of wood blend perfectly.
With its great structure, this wine is particularly adapted to red meats, braised dishes and game in general. It is an ideal accompaniment for cheeses and our typical local cuisine.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Intensely perfumed with notes of dried roses, dried strawberries, sour cherries, tar and white truffles. Lemons, too. Medium-bodied with vibrant acidity and firm, tightly knit tannins. Fragrant, refined and structured.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of red-skinned berry, camphor and forest floor emerge from the glass. The savory, balanced palate offers ripe raspberry, star anise and cinnamon alongside fine-grained tannins. Drink 2023–2033.
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Wine Spectator
This red's texture borders on creamy, with lively acidity setting the stage for cherry, currant and hibiscus flavors. The finish is framed by crisp tannins and lingers nicely. Best from 2026 through 2042.
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.