BAROLO

Barolo, also known as the king of wines and the wine of kings , is the beating heart of the Langhe wine community.

Barolo wine is made within the Barolo appellation around the village of Barolo in the wine region known as the Langhe. The Langhe is located in the south of the Italian province of Piedmont and is located in a kind of natural amphitheater. It is protected on three sides by mountain ranges, to the north the Swiss Alps, to the west the French Alps and to the south the Apennines. Partly due to its geological location, some of the best wines in the world are made here. Barolo, together with its sister wine Barbaresco and the Tuscan Brunello di Montalcino, is one of the three most distinguished wines in Italy.
Together with the more northerly Roero, more easterly Monferatto and the Langhe, this area is considered one of the most important regions for producing quality wines in Italy. Piedmont prides itself on not having a single IGT wine, but instead the 45 highly regarded DOC wines and no fewer than 15 DOCG (the pinnacle of wine in Italy) wines. Of which Barolo and Barbaresco are on par with the best wines from Burgundy, Bordeaux or Montalcino.

History

In 1600, the Nebbiolo grape was already valued and consumed by the aristocracy and members of the royal family of Savoy, but thanks to the help of Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, who engaged the French oenologist Alexandre-Pierre Odart, the production process was improved . At that time, Barolo began its climb to success and conquering the hearts of the most demanding palates around the world.

After a forced pause caused by the arrival of phylloxera and several wars, the area where Barolo was produced was demarcated for the first time in 1909 by the Agricultural Committee of Alba. Another turning point came in 1934 when the Consortium of the Traditional Wines of Barolo and Barbaresco was founded on June 30. Its last significant moment was in 1980, when it received DOCG recognition.


Nebbiolo

Both Barolo and Barbaresco are made from 100% Nebbiolo grapes and it is therefore no coincidence that the Nebbiolo grape brings out the very best of itself in these two appellations located in the Langhe, which are only separated by the city of Alba (known for the white truffle). Attempts to grow Nebbiolo into a good wine elsewhere have largely failed and it is no coincidence that the Nebbiolo grape is one of the least planted grapes worldwide. About 90% of all Nebbiolo vineyards in the world are located in Piedmont. Of which about 80% in the Langhe. It is also said that the Nebbiolo is a homesick grape and only comes into its own at home in the Langhe. Let's just say that the Nebbiolo is extremely sensitive to geographical and climatic conditions and that those specific perfect growing conditions just now exist in the Langhe.
Nebbiolo is also the first grape to sprout and the last to be harvested. It is therefore a grape that needs a lot of time to ripen properly and that produces the intensity and complexity that makes the grape so special. A great help here is once again the micro-climate of Piedmont with warm days and cool nights. The ideal climatic conditions for a Nebbiolo grape.

Barolo DOCG

With a few exceptions, Barolo is made from 100% Nebbiolo grapes (sub-variety Lampia, Michet e Rosè) and within the boundaries of the appellation (c. 1800 hectares). The appellation includes eleven municipalities:

Barolo
Castiglione Falletto
Serralunga d'Alba
Monforte d'Alba
La Morra
Novello
Verduno
Roddi
Grinzane Cavour
Diano d'Alba
Cherasco

Regardless of the location and the use of 100% Nebbiolo grapes, a Barolo wine must meet a number of strict requirements before it can be called Barolo wine. The Nebbiolo grapes for Barolo must be grown at an altitude between 170 and 540 meters and the slope on which the grapes grow must not face north. It must undergo a minimum maturation of 38 months, of which at least half in wood. Barolo may be given the addition Riserva if it has been aged for at least five years.
Crus
The Barolo Appellation is divided into 181 crus.
The top cru vineyards are located in Serralunga d'Alba, Castiglione Falleto. Barolo, Monforte d'Alba and La Morra. Most quality wines are produced in these municipalities. This mainly has to do with the quality of producers, but even more with the composition of the soil and the micro-climate from which some crus benefit more than others. In addition, for a good wine (grape) the location in relation to the sun and Height is of course also very decisive.
So, so to speak, every cru vineyard has its own characteristics and some stand out in terms of quality. These are the crus where the most prestigious and therefore expensive Baroli come from.

Below are some of Barolo's grand cru vineyards:

-Cannubi; the world-famous vineyard near Barolo where history is written by a number of top producers such as Francesco Rinaldi, Chiarlo. Sandrone and Gagliardo.
-Vignarionda: the ultimate in Serralungese cru area with Barolos from Anselma, Luigi Pira, Germano Ettore, Oddero and Guido Porro, among others
-Brunate near La Morra; producers include Francesco Rinaldi, Marcarini and Marengo
-Monprivato in Castiglione: almost entirely owned by the legendary Giuseppe Mascarello
-Bricco Boschis in Castiglione: producers Roccheviberti and Cavallotto
-Francia (Serralunga) where Conterno's Barolo Monfertino is only grown in the best years
-Lazzarito (Serralunga) including Germano Ettore and Guido Porro
-Monvigliero (Verduno) Paolo Scavino, Fratelli Alessandria and Burlotto

Other cru vineyards that should not be underestimated:
-Villero (Castiglione)
-Margheria (Serralunga)
-Gabutti (Serralunga)
-Rocche dell' Annunziata (La Morra)
-Bussia (Monforte)
-Cerquio (Barolo)
-Cerretta (Serralunga)
-Marenca (Serralunga
-Ginestra (Monforte)

Diversity

In addition to its undisputed quality, what makes the Barolo so intriguing is its diversity.
Partly due to the scaling up during French rule, the (then mostly) agricultural lands were divided among many owners, which ultimately led to many wine growers on a relatively small area. Add this to the soil composition, which can differ enormously on one slope and you have all the ingredients for an enormous variety of Barolo wines.
At the Cru Vigna Rionda in Serralunga, for example, there are about ten winegrowers active, all of whom have their own methods for working in the fields and in the cellar. In addition, it is also decisive where on the cru their piece of land is located, not only in terms of the soil but also the position of the sun, the draft of the wind, proximity to water, etc.
This ultimately results in 10 Barolo wines, all with a different taste and experience. If I now tell you that there are a total of 181 cru Barolo vineyards within the Barolo appellation, you can imagine what a variety of Barolo is made and that, in addition to its greatness, also makes this wine unique in our eyes. and irresistible.


Soil

Below is a piece of tough stuff, but it explains very nicely why, for example, a Barolo wine from La Morra is completely different from a Barolo wine from Serralunga. Or why even two wines from the same vineyard can have a different taste:
About 30 million years ago during the Oligocene, the Langhe was flooded, tectonic plate shifts had pushed up the oceans, after the water receded, about five million years ago, a fine-grained clayey sandy bottom remained rich in limestone and fossil sediments.
The soil types in the Barolo appellation generally consist of marine sediments with alternating sublayers of marl (clay and lime) and sandstone.
In addition, there are three different types of geographical formations formed in three different eras (and which yield roughly 3 different types of Barolo).

The oldest is the Lequio formation from the Seravallian and Tortonian periods, which is located in and around Serralunga and parts of Monforte. This soil type is poor in nutrients and retains little moisture (rain and snow), which means the vine has to work harder and ultimately produces grapes that produce powerful wines with a firm structure and a long shelf life.
The Lequio formation consists mainly of marl, clay, lime and sandstone and has a light yellow, almost white color.

Sant' Agata marl dates from the Tortonian and partly from the Messinian period and consists mainly of calcareous clay and blue-gray marl and is found around Barolo and La Morra (and in Barbaresco). This type of soil is slightly more nutritious and remains moist for longer due to its more compact structure. This results in wines that do not immediately have the body and structure of the wines of the aforementioned Lequio formation, but they are immediately more accessible, more delicate and often have a beautiful bouquet.

The third formation is the Diano sandstone of the Serravalian and Tortonic periods and is rich in sand, especially in the lower layers. The area where this soil type is found extends from Monforte to the east of Barolo and includes the whole of Castiglione Falletto. The wines from this soil type are characterized by their elegance and structure. Considered by many to be the ideal soil for making Barolo.

In addition to the soil type, it is of course of obvious importance what the winegrower himself stamps on both the grape (the work in the vineyard; green pruning, soil treatment, disease control, etc.) and on the final wine (fermentation, macelation, ripening, etc.). ).

Barolo wars

The Barolo Wars also left a major mark on the evolution of Barolo production.

In the early 1980s, a true revolution swept through the Langhe, a new generation of winemakers demanded modernization. The old generation worked in a way as they had for a hundred years and matured their beautiful wine in old large wooden “botte” (large wooden barrels) that sometimes had holes in them. Due to the lack of hygiene, the wine was fermented for a very long time. After many visits to their French colleagues just across the border, the smaller French barriques were introduced to the Langhe, something that traditionalists turned their noses up at, but which made the international wine world extremely enthusiastic.
Thus it came to pass that the phenomenon of traditionalists and modernists was born within the Barolo world. In those first years of the Barolo Wars, things were so intense that these two groups did not wish each other the light of day. Something that is no longer an issue today. There are still modernists and traditionalists, but when it comes to wine making it is no longer as black and white as it used to be. For example, a large number of winemakers now work with both barrique and botte. They let the wine determine what it needs.
In recent years there has been a bit of a trend towards large wooden barrels. After the extreme wood, vanilla and chocolate notes of the Barolos from the 1990s and the beginning of this century, people are now moving away from that a bit. The reasoning is that Barolo matured in (new) barrique is influenced too much by the wood and thus the identity of the Nebbiolo grape is pushed into the background. To prevent this, many winemakers return to the large botte or at least to used barriques that leave less of their mark on the wine.
Our personal preference also leans more towards Barolo, which gets its character purely from the grapes and the terroir. In these Barolos you can really taste the origin, they are honest and cannot be “upgraded” by a layer of vanilla. In these Barolos you taste the land, the soil, the sun, its location, with the connecting factor being the grape that has absorbed these flavors in seven months.



Information

This is by no means a complete overview of Barolo wine and many books have been written about it.
As passionate Barolo enthusiasts and sellers, we have tried to lift the veil and show you around. It is a complex matter, but we hope that this has been somewhat successful and that you as a customer have become a little wiser about the phenomenon that is Barolo.