Barolo

What the disciplinare says

Barolo must be made from one hundred per cent Nebbiolo. The disciplinare names three traditional subvarieties — Michet, Lampia and Rosé — but any biotype registered in the national variety list is permitted. No blending with other grape varieties is allowed under any circumstances. If a producer’s Nebbiolo is not good enough in a given year, the correct response is to declassify to Langhe Nebbiolo. This is not a rule that bends.

The production zone covers eleven comuni in the province of Cuneo: the entire territory of Barolo, Castiglione Falletto and Serralunga d’Alba, and parts of the territory of Monforte d’Alba, Novello, La Morra, Verduno, Grinzane Cavour, Diano d’Alba, Cherasco and Roddi. The boundaries were formally delimited in 1933 and have not changed since.

Vineyards must be on hillside positions with adequate exposure. Valley floors, excessively damp land and sites without sufficient sunlight are excluded by the disciplinare. The maximum yield is eight tonnes of grapes per hectare.

Ageing

Barolo must be aged for a minimum of thirty eight months in total, of which at least eighteen months must be in wood. For Barolo Riserva, the minimum is sixty two months in total, with the same eighteen months in wood. The disciplinare does not specify the type or size of the vessel: large Slavonian oak casks and small French barriques are both permitted, and the choice between them is the single biggest stylistic decision a Barolo producer makes.

The minimum alcohol content is thirteen per cent. For Riserva it is thirteen and a half per cent.

The eleven comuni

Five of the eleven are considered the historic core: Barolo itself, La Morra, Castiglione Falletto, Serralunga d’Alba and Monforte d’Alba. Together they account for over eighty per cent of production. The remaining six — Novello, Verduno, Grinzane Cavour, Diano d’Alba, Cherasco and Roddi — contribute smaller volumes but include sites of genuine distinction.

The zone divides broadly into two soil types. The western communes, led by La Morra, sit on younger Tortonian soils and tend to produce more aromatic, approachable wines. The eastern communes, led by Serralunga d’Alba, sit on older Serravallian soils and tend to produce more structured, age-worthy wines. This is a generalisation and every producer will argue with it, but it is the generalisation that holds.

What Barolo tastes like

We are not sommeliers and we are not going to pretend. What we taste, consistently, across bottles we have opened ourselves: tar and dried roses in a mature Barolo, red fruit and firm tannins in a young one, and a level of acidity that makes it a wine you eat with rather than drink alone. The classic pairings are braised beef, ossobuco, truffled pasta and hard aged cheeses, and they are classic because they work.

A fine Barolo will age for twenty to thirty years. A mediocre one will not improve past ten regardless of storage. The difference is the vineyard, not the barrel.

The MGA system

Since the 2010 vintage, Barolo labels may carry a Menzione Geografica Aggiuntiva — a named sub-zone within one of the eleven comuni. There are over one hundred and seventy officially delimited MGAs. The most celebrated include Cannubi (Barolo), Brunate (La Morra and Barolo), Bussia (Monforte d’Alba), Monprivato (Castiglione Falletto) and Vigna Rionda (Serralunga d’Alba). An MGA on a label means the grapes came entirely from that delimited site.

History, briefly

Nebbiolo has been grown in the Langhe for centuries, but modern Barolo begins in the mid-nineteenth century with Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, and Giulia Colbert Falletti, the last Marchesa di Barolo, who pushed for a dry, structured wine where the local tradition had been sweet and often unstable. Barolo received DOC status in 1966 and was among the first four wines promoted to DOCG in 1980.