Winemaker Notes
Light ruby red color. Fruity hints of dark cherry as well as ferrous, balsamic and spicy notes. The mouth uncovers hints of dark fruit and cherry, supported by a lively and young tannic texture that suggests potential for evolution.
It is particularly enjoyable to savor its initial freshness and then appreciate the evolution of its aromas as the wine slowly warms in the glass.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Fresh, succulent and crunchy with red currants, cherries, dried herbs and sweet spices. Medium-bodied with fine, firm tannins and bright acidity. Seductive, vivid and racy with a textural finish. Try after 2027.
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Wine Enthusiast
A medley of cherries, from ripe and juicy to tart and candied, harmonizes with alluring sweet spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and clove on the nose. The plush palate is effortless and inviting, with a tantalizing whisper of orange zest. Well-structured tannins provide a solid backbone to this delightful wine.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The medium ruby 2020 Barolo Del Comune Di Serralunga D'Alba opens to notes of crushed stones, ripe cherries, clove spice, and incense. Approachable for the commune in this vintage, it’s ripe but light on its feet, with ripe tannins and mineral undercurrents. It’s a very appealing appellation wine to drink over the coming 8-10 years. Drink 2025-2035.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Mauro Veglio 2020 Barolo del Comune di Serralunga d'Alba starts off on the compact and closed side, like some of the other wines presented this year. Take an extra moment to decant the wine, or better yet, keep it in your cellar a little longer. At this tasting, it shows cherry, navel orange and grilled herb over a mid-weight texture.
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.