Located in the Piedmont region of northern Italy lies one of the most highly regarded wine producing areas in the world, Barolo.
Barolo is commonly referred to as Italy's greatest wine. Made entirely from the Nebbiolo grape, these wines often show notes of tar, tobacco leaf, and crushed rose petals. Nebbiolo as a grape has a very unique and distinct characteristic in that when grown in certain regions such as Barolo and Barbaresco, it can produce wines with very high acidity and tannin structure which allows these wines to often age for several decades.
In the past the wines of Barolo have often been far too acidic and tannic to drink young, needing close to 10 years before even being considered to drink, along with the rising price of Barolo, current and back vintage, these wines were often lost on younger generations wanting to try the wines of this incredible region.
However, over the last 30 years trends in Barolo have begun to change. In the 1980's group called the 'Barolo Boys' began to push the boundaries and traditions of the region, with a vision to produce wines that can be enjoyed much earlier in their life. They achieved this by significantly reducing the size of the barrels for aging the wines down to 225L toasted French oak. This allowed the wine more oak contact, softening the harsh tannins and acidity much quicker. They also cropped yields of the vines, noticing that by producing less grapes on the vines, the quality of the fruit rose greatly.
Needless to say, this definitely ruffled some feathers with the traditionalist winemakers of Barolo. Winemaking families were divided on production methods, in one case Elio Altare destroyed one of his family's old barrels with a chainsaw, and getting himself disowned from the family in the process.
Disputes have since calmed down and these methods proved a huge success for the Barolo, boosting not only the consumption worldwide but also tourism and surrounding industries in the area over the last 30 years.
Today winemakers will utilise a variety of both modern and traditional winemaking techniques throughout the year. Barolo is now considered alongside Burgundy and Bordeaux for creating some of the greatest wines in the world.
Whilst the top wines of Barolo can easily fetch thousands of dollars, there's some hidden gems that showcase just how good Barolo can be at a much more approachable price. I've picked 3 of my absolute favourites which are all approachable out of the bottle but also have fantastic structure to cellar for many years to come.
Members mixed 6 price - $76.90
Maceration in contact with the grape skins for a duration of 12 days, alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in steel tanks, aged in French oak barrels for 18 months. Further aged in bottle for 6 months. An intense bouquet with hints of ripe fruit and rose petals. Persistent in taste, thanks to its fine and enveloping tannins that give an elegant pleasantness to this wine
Members mixed 6 price - $81
Castiglione Falletto and Serralunga d'Alba match here in a superlative way. Aroma and finesse with power and body at the same time. Sweet nose, with hints of cherry, black currant and licorice.
Fruity tannins. A union of characters. Aged for two years in large casks.
Members mixed 6 price - $76.95
Fresh, bright cherry nose with hints of wild herbs, stewed plums and aniseed notes. The palate is light yet well structured providing exceptional length with a bold acidity. Ripe rhubarb is prominent on the palate, following light baking spice and rose petal also. Easy to enjoy in it's youth with a short decant, otherwise this wine will cellar brilliantly for many years to come.
