Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2005 Barolo Vigna d-La Roul is one of the darker and firmer Barolos in this line-up. Today the wine remains incredibly primary, with little aromatic complexity. Over time, subtle notes of tar, dark fruit, spices and licorice emerge, but the wine stands out for its generous, harmonious core of fruit that works as a wonderful counterpoint to the firm tannins. This is a beautiful and very complete Barolo. Like all of the estate's wines, it only needs time. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2030.
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Wine & Spirits
This vineyard surrounds the winery's offices in Manzoni Soprani, where the southern exposures of the hill built the wine's massive attack. It's super tannic, meaty rather than sweet, yet the tannins feel rich, as if marbled with fat. The tannins relent a bit with a day of air, allowing the wine to unfold even as they continue to cover it. Somehow, this manages to feel statuesque rather than over extracted. Don't consider opening it without another five years of bottle age; it will develop for years after that.
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Wine Spectator
This has a gorgeous nose of ripe fruit, with sandalwood and cedar. Full-bodied and very layered, with soft, polished tannins and a long, long finish. Hard not to drink now. Shows unctuous richness.
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.