Winemaker Notes
Elegant and soft to the palate, it is characterized by the fruity notes of raspberry and a floral and spicy nose. The Nebbiolo grapes come exclusively from the vineyard "Rocche dell'Annunziata", one of the historical crus of La Morra.
The vinification again is traditional, with a maceration which can last about two weeks. The wine is then aged for 24 months in large Slavonian oak barrels, and then fined for at least one year in the bottle.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Deliciously spiced red-cherry, blueberry, pink-grapefruit and pomegranate aromas with very attractive complexity already on release. The palate delivers a superb array of finely detailed tannins and impeccably concentrated red cherries that have pitch-perfect ripeness. This is impressive. Try from 2023.
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Wine Enthusiast
Red berry, new leather and chopped mint lead the nose. The juicy, balanced palate offers raspberry jam, star anise and tobacco alongside fine-grained tannins and bright acidity. Drink 2022–2028.
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.