Marchesi di Barolo Nebbiolo d'Alba Michet DOC 2021 (Italy)

Description

Oak, Spice, Vanilla

"Although this wine is not yet available in the U.S. (the price is an estimate), I recommend it for three reasons: It is simply delicious, and should you run across it in a restaurant in Italy, snap it up. Secondly, it highlights an underappreciated category—Nebbiolo d’Alba. Thirdly, I urge an importer to pick it up. Marchesi di Barolo, located in the center of the Barolo village itself, is an historic and superb producer. You can be thrilled with any of their wines from their top Barolo to less prestigious ones, like this Nebbiolo. Nebbiolo, after all, is the grape of Barolo and Barbaresco, so think of Nebbiolo d’Alba—or di Piemonte for that matter—as a Rosso in the sense of Rosso di Montalcino in relation to Brunello. This one delivers the aromatic allure of Barolo along with less weight, but the same appealing combination of fruity and savory elements with far less of a tannic grip. In short, it is a “Rosso di Barolo” that is perfect for current drinking, especially with wintertime fare" Michael Apstein

The colour is ruby, veering towards garnet red. The aroma combines the fruity scents of raspberry with the ethereal, spicy notes of violet and vanilla. This wine has a wide range of flavours and the taste is harmonious and balanced, with graceful, never-too-prominent tannins and delicate woody notes.

Marchesi di Barolo have vineyards in the town of Barolo, in the Langhe area, in Roero and in Monferrato Nicese. They have been making wine and aging it in the ancient cellars of Marchesi di Barolo for six generations. Today, Ernesto and Anna, and their children Valentina and Davide are at the helm, after buying the ancient cellars of Marchesi di Barolo in 1929, they have devoted themselves to the activity that ‘pioneer’ Marchesi Falletti had started at the beginning of the 19th century, as faithful interpreters of the rich diversity of these places, vineyards, and varieties.

From clay and limestone hills of medium consistency, it extracts plenty of trace elements that enrich its structure; from grounds rich in quartz sands and silt, it takes fragrant and fruity scents.

Decanted into vitrified concrete vats, it maintains the post-fermentation temperature of around 22°C for a long time. In this way the malolactic fermentation starts and ends spontaneously in a short time. The refinement, carried out 60% in large 60 hl Slavonian oak barrels and the remaining 40% in steel, is aimed at maintaining the typical traits of freshness and florality of the Michet.