Italy · Piedmont · Eleven communes south-west of Alba
Barolo DOCG
One of the world's great structured reds: pale garnet but ferociously tannic and high in acidity, with Nebbiolo's signature 'tar and roses' — dried rose over dark tar — alongside red cherry, licorice and, with age, truffle, leather and game. Serralunga and Monforte lean powerful and austere; La Morra and Barolo lean perfumed and supple.
Terroir
Calcareous marls laid down in two broad geological epochs that split the zone in two. The younger, bluish-grey Tortonian marls (Sant'Agata Fossili) of La Morra and Barolo are more compact and fertile; the older, paler, sandier Serravallian/Helvetian marls (Lequio and Diano formations) of Serralunga d'Alba, Monforte and Castiglione Falletto are poorer and more limestone-and-sandstone rich.
A tight cluster of steep Langhe hills 200–500 m in altitude, best expressed on south- and southwest-facing slopes; autumn fog (nebbia) blankets the valleys at the late Nebbiolo harvest.
The soil split is the classic key to Barolo's two faces: Tortonian western communes (La Morra, Barolo) tend to give more perfumed, fruity, earlier-maturing wines, while Serravallian eastern communes (Serralunga, Monforte) give the most powerful, structured and slow-evolving Barolo. Only Nebbiolo, the region's latest-ripening grape, is permitted.
Structure tendencies
- body
- medium to medium-plus
- tannin
- high
- acidity
- high
- alcohol
- medium
- finish
- long
tendencies in prose, as read by critics/consensus — not measured ordinals
Classic descriptors
red cherry
in your cellar: 3 bottlesChâteau Léoville-Poyferré 2005Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016black cherry
in your cellar: 15 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2020Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022dried rose
in your cellar: 3 bottlesChâteau Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Gloria 2020Massolino Barolo 2016violet
in your cellar: 13 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022potpourri
in your cellar: 2 bottlesChâteau Léoville-Poyferré 2005Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010tar
in your cellar: 2 bottlesMayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Massolino Barolo 2016iron
in your cellar: 11 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2020Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022truffle
in your cellar: 2 bottlesChâteau Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Laroque 2022licorice
in your cellar: 9 bottlesChâteau Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Château Laroque 2022Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022baking spice
in your cellar: 9 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016leather
in your cellar: 7 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016game
not in any of your bottles yettobacco
in your cellar: 13 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022dried cherry
in your cellar: 3 bottlesBodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010'Tar and roses' is Barolo's defining signature; truffle, leather and game are the rewards of long ageing. Soil-linked style differences (Tortonian vs Serravallian marls) are classical tasting associations, not claims of literal mineral uptake (see docs/wine-pedagogy.md §3).
Classification
DOC in 1966, elevated to DOCG in 1980. Barolo may be produced in 11 communes — Barolo, Castiglione Falletto, Serralunga d'Alba, Monforte d'Alba and La Morra hold the bulk of the vineyards, with parts of Novello, Verduno, Grinzane Cavour, Diano d'Alba, Cherasco and Roddi completing the zone. Since 2010 the region has recognised named single-vineyard 'MGA' crus (menzioni geografiche aggiuntive). A long-running 'traditionalist vs modernist' debate pits large Slavonian botti and long maceration against small French barriques.
grapes — 100% Nebbiolo. No other grape is permitted.. aging — Minimum 38 months of ageing before release (from 1 November of the harvest year), of which at least 18 months in wood; the wine may not be released before 1 January of the fourth year following the harvest. Riserva requires a minimum of 62 months.. Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Dogliani (production code / disciplinare)