Barolo Dinner Sydney 2022

As the often overused saying goes: Barolo is the king of wine and the wine of kings. Named after the major village and commune in the zone, it is made exclusively from nebbiolo grapes grown around the towns of Barolo, La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga and Castigilone Faletto. Each of these communes produces Barolo of slightly different personalities. For instance the wines of La Morra are silky and feminine while the wines of Serralunga are slightly more robust and even more tannic than usual in their youth.

The Barolo zone is naturally divided by a geological barrier running north to south, which separates the communes of Barolo and La Morra, in the west, from Castiglione, Serralunga and Monforte, in the east. Soils on both sides of this barrier are calcareous marl of marine origin; but while those on the eastern side, referred to as "helvetian," show a significant iron content, the soils on the western side are differentiated by an elevated magnesium and manganese content, and are referred to as "tortonian." Barolos from the helvetian areas are the more robust, highly-colored and tannic, with greater body and longevity; Barolos from the tortonian areas are fragrant, graceful and elegant wines approachable earlier in their evolution.

In more recent years, the practice of most good producers is also to label their wines with the major vineyard or ‘cru’ from their area. The main ‘crus’ from the sub-zones are: 

As a general comment, the nebbiolo grape of Barolo and Barbaresco is not highly pigmented, but is high in both tannin and acid. In their youth the wines can be impenetrably tough and can be difficult for a taster not accustomed to the style. In more recent years, modern vinification techniques along with increasing use of small French oak barrels are making many of the wines easier to taste when young. Aromatically, the wines exhibit distinctive smells of roses, liquorice/tar and the fruit spectrum is usually more of plum rather than cherry. The wines can age for many years and gradually become softer and richer displaying layers of complexity.

Another similarity to Burgundy is the proliferation of small growers who share the limited acreage of the zone. There are 1100 individual producers in Barolo and they share approximately 1140 hectares of classified vineyards. That’s about a hectare each! PRINCE WINE STORE