Winemaker Notes
Three great tenors are much more effective than a choir. This Barolo is made by blending three important crus cultivated by the azienda agricola Paolo Scavino: Rocche di Castiglione, Fiasco in Castiglione Falletto and the mythical Cannubi of Barolo. The result is one of the most fascinating and sensuous wines of the estate.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Offers loads of plum, fresh basil and flowers on the nose. Full-bodied, with chewy tannins and a long, long finish. Very rich and layered. Fabulous. This is a selection from three vineyards, Rocche di Castiglione, Cannubi and Bric dël Fiasc, which gives balance and complexity to the wine. Best after 2011. 1,500 cases made.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Scavino’s 2003 Barolo Carobric reveals pretty aromatics and a rich, weighty core of ripe fruit, chocolate and spices, with superb depth and a long, sweet finish. It is a remarkably detailed Barolo for the vintage. Today it comes across as massive and structured, but the wine seems to have enough stuffing to stand up to the tannins. Carobric is made from a blend of the Cannubi, Rocche di Castiglione and Bric del Fiasc vineyards. In most vintages Carobric lacks the distinctiveness of Scavino’s single-vineyard Barolos, but the ability to blend wines from different sites was clearly an advantage in 2003. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2018.
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.