Winemaker Notes
Light ruby red and faint garnet notes. Aromas are extremely fruity and delicately harmonious. Hints of strawberry and raspberry. Absolutely fine and elegant. It has good persistence, but with a finale characterized by remarkably soft tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Juicy and smooth, this full-bodied red has aromas evoking fragrant purple flower, pipe tobacco, black-skinned berry and camphor. On the delicious, enveloping palate, firm but velvety tannins accompany ripe Marasca cherry, raspberry compote, cinnamon and licorice while fresh acidity lends balance and just enough tension. Drink 2024–2036.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This is a terrific new wine from Mauro Veglio. Fruit is drawn from a small parcel in Paiagallo, in the comune of Barolo, that measures less than one hectare and is situated at 300 meters above sea level. The vines are 35 years old on average. The 2016 Barolo Paiagallo is a beautiful wine, slightly open and accessible with a soft and gentle quality of fruit. It delivers delicate tones of wild berries, dark plum and pressed violets. This interpretation is very pretty, and the wine explores the very fine and nuanced side of the Nebbiolo grape. There is a light brushing of crushed white pepper and mineral on the close.
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.