Barolo wines

Considered to be one of the best in the world, Barolo is one of the most exclusive wines on earth. But to be “the king of wines, the wine of kings”, it has to meet three criteria: it must be made in the exceptional Langhe hills area in Piedmont, using the best Nebbiolo grapes and it must age and refine for a long time.

The qualities of Barolo wines were recognised as early as 1807 when the French noblewoman Juliette Colbert de Maulévrier married the Marquis of Barolo, Carlo Tancredi Falletti. When she settled in her husband’s municipality, she discovered the great potential of the wines made there and began production in her vineyards with the aim of making it an ambassador for Piedmont across Europe.

Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) since 1980, Barolo covers an area of 11 municipalities located in the Langhe hills in Piedmont: Barolo, La Morra, Monforte, Serralunga, Castiglione Falletto, Verduno, Novello, Cherasco, Diano, Roddi and Grinzane Cavour. A total of 1,190 hectares divided into small vineyard plots where the soil, altitude, exposure and microclimate change over just 30 metres and provide enormous diversity in the wines.

Barolo wine is made by fermenting the best Nebbiolo grapes.

This is a prized native variety with a high polyphenol content, which results in very tannic wines that must age for several years before they can be enjoyed. The Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita Barolo specifies that its wines must age for a minimum of 38 months, 18 of which must be in barrels. And for a Barolo Riserva, this time increases to 62 months, 18 of them in barrels.

Climate, soils and varieties.

Piedmont, in the northeast of Italy, is the country’s largest wine region, after Sicily. Located at the foot of the Alps mountains, hence the name, Piedmont is divided into four major areas: the Sésia Valley, the Dora Baltea Valley, the Monferrato Hills and the Langhe Hills. Within the last area, south of Asti and Alba, there are two places that stand out, being the most prestigious in Piedmont: Barolo and Barbaresco, where the Nebbiolo variety expresses itself in the most unique way.

Barolo, the name of the town, is spread across three high ranges of hills divided by two tributaries of the Tanaro river, the Tallòria dell 'Annunziata and the Tallòria di Castiglione. All the vineyards are concentrated in this area of Langhe, which enjoys hot and humid summers and cold and long winters. The influence of the surrounding rivers brings five metres of morning mist that allows the Nebbiolo variety to ripen slowly. This is where this native variety gets its name from; the Italian word nebbia, meaning fog.

Nebbiolo grapes are difficult to grow and very delicate. But, although the variety takes a long time to ripen, is prone to rot and oxidises easily, the results are incredible. It creates very powerful, fragrant, complex wines with a high level of acidity, tannins and alcohol.

Classification of DOCG Barolo sub-regions.

Barolo is found at altitudes up to 500 m and the soil, formed by ancient marine sediments rich in minerals and trace elements called grey and white marl, varies greatly throughout the region. The Nebbiolo grape’s high sensitivity to soil diversity, exposure, altitude and mesoclimate throughout the region offers enormous variety in the wines and has even sparked debate on possible sub-regions.

West of the Alba highway, near La Morra, the soils are composed of calcareous marls called “Tortonian” and offer slightly less tense and more fragrant wines. In the east, the soils are less fertile with more sandstone and produce more concentrated and powerful wines with extraordinarily long aging.

Among the great vineyards in the west, it is Brunate, Cerequio, Le Rocche, La Serra and, of course, the most famous in Barolo, Cannubi that stand out. To the east are the vineyards of Bussia, Ginestra, Villero de Vietti, Monprivato de Mascarello and Bricco Rocche. The latter has fairly sandy soils, but can produce very fragrant wines.

Tradition versus innovation.

Although one of the main characteristics of Barolo is their long aging, not all producers agree on leaving this king of wines in the cellar for so long. It all began in the 80s, when there was a drop in demand for Barolo wine from unimpressed consumers who found some producers’ prices to be absurd. That is when a wave of new producers emerged, who, following the example of other wine-growing areas like Burgundy or Bordeaux, sought to break with traditions that can result in defects in the wine, and instead try some new methods to increase the quality of the results.

These producers decided to harvest before the grapes over ripened, use shorter macerations, ferment in stainless steel tanks at a controlled temperature, and use French oak barrels and shorter aging. Using these methods, they created wines that were less tannic, more fruity and more delicate. As well as that, because of the limitations of the Nebbiolo variety, they decided to make wines with neighboring castes.

Traditional producers defend the classical methods and refuse to be influenced by international trends. Very ripe grapes, fermentation at high temperatures, long macerations and long aging in large barrels are the characteristics that make Barolo the king of wines. And of course, they refuse to use grapes other than Nebbiolo, the variety that gives this wine its tannicity and structure.

Wines and Wineries .

The truth is that the strength of Barolo wine is found in the terroir. So although each producer has their way of doing things, the thing that really makes this “wine of kings, king of wines” stand out, is actually the land where it starts life. Starting from there, each winery adds its own touch.

Cavallotto is a family winery located in the municipality of Castiglione Falletto, in the Italian province of Cuneo (Piedmont). Since 1928, four generations have worked on the Bricco Boschis hill, one of the most prestigious wine regions in northern Italy that has produced great Nebbiolos with a marked personality and character. Among their wines is the great gem, Cavallotto Bricco Boschis, an icon among the Barolos of Castiglione Falletto.

Ceretto is one of the most important wineries in the Barbaresco and Barolo DOCG. This true ambassador of Italian Piedmont makes a wide range of wines that includes a long list of denominations from the Langhe area like Barbaresco, Barolo, Barolo Chinato, Langhe Arneis, Langhe Bianco, Langhe Rosso, Dolcetto d'Alba, Barbera d'Alba , Nebbiolo d'Alba, Moscato d'Asti and Asti Spumante. Top quality wines that are made through meticulous and rigourous work in both the vineyard and the winery.

Giuseppe Mascarello e Figlio is a family winery that knows better than anyone how to produce the finest Barolos. Founded in 1881, it is known for making wine using cement tanks covered in epoxy resin and stainless steel with the aim of getting the best expression of the grape and terroir. They use oak foudres from Slovenia for the aging process. This results in wines with a marked personality, great tannins and great bottle aging.

Sandrone Luciano, one of the Piedmont greats, is a winegrower who loves his land and knows how to showcase the excellent qualities of the native variety Nebbiolo like no other. He has a total of 27 hectares of land in Langa and Roero that he uses to make very elegant wines, combining traditional know-how with new methods to achieve a faithful reflection of the terroir in a pure and crisp wine.

Poderi e Cantine Oddero has 35 hectares of land spread over the hills of Barolo and Barbaresco, Barbera and Moscato d'Asti. This is a family winery that was founded in 1878 to showcase the great characteristics of Barolo. And although Poderi e Cantine, which means farm and winery, has been run by the men of the house for generations, it is now owned by Mariacristina and Mariavittoria, the daughters of James Oddero. Poderi e Cantine Oddero concentrates all its efforts on the vineyard to grow spectacular and unique grapes that, once vinified, reveals the best of the fruit and the unique soils.

Roagna is another of Piedmont’s historic wineries. A family project that was pushed forward by Alfredo and later by his son Luca Roagna. Starting from a manifesto of 10 principles, their work in the vineyard is biodynamic, no chemical products are used and they respect the biodiversity as much as possible. They also intervene as little as possible in the winery, fermenting with native yeasts, using long macerations and bottling without filtering or clarifying and adding only the minimum amount of sulphites.

The Azienda Agricola Roberto Voerzio is a young winery set up by Roberto Voerzio in 1986. He is a prestigious winemaker with a passion for Barolo and known for being an innovator in Piedmont. However, although he is one of the most enthusiastic representatives of the new barolistas and loves to experiment, he also has huge respect for the essence of this denomination, which is why his wines still have a powerful structure, great tannicity and an exceptional aging capacity.