Winemaker Notes
Wide and wonderful nose, young and rigid mouth. The nose is pure, clear, crossed by hints of cherry, pomegranate and raspberry. Then plum, licorice and tar flavors are matched by muscular tannins in this dense, monolithic red. Tightens up on the finish, yet remains balanced and long, with a savory, minerally quality.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Very aromatic with dried-strawberry and tile character. Some dried flowers, too. Medium to full body and firm, silky tannins. Berry, cedar and leather undertones on the finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Schiavenza 2016 Barolo Broglio is a generous and open-knit expression that unfolds to dark fruit, ripe cherry, spice, cola and aniseed. This expression makes room for warmer notes of smoked bacon or tilled earth. Those aromas seem to reflect a savory quality inherent to the fruit or winemaking rather than any ripeness from the vintage. In fact, those savory tones quickly cede to bright and tonic fruit flavors and a good dose of tingly acidity.
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Wine Enthusiast
Fragrant blue-flower, ripe plum and baking-spice aromas mingle with new leather. Full bodied and enveloping, the concentrated palate doles out mouthfuls of ripe Marasca cherry, raspberry jam and licorice cushioned in velvety tannins. Drink 2023–2028.
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Wine Spectator
Aromas of tar and leather lead off in this rich, vivid red, with a core of ripe cherry. Evolves across the palate, building to a tightly wound tapestry of fruit, mineral and balsamic elements on the finish. Best from 2023 through 2045.
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.