Michele Chiarlo farms Nebbiolo across the hills of the Langhe, and this is the estate's Barolo from the Palàs vineyard. The 2019 vintage was a warm, steady growing season in Piedmont, and the wine shows the concentration that came with it.
- Nebbiolo, the only grape permitted in Barolo.
- Barolo DOCG, Piedmont, northern Italy.
- 2019 vintage, a warm year in the Langhe.
- 14% alcohol, full body, dry.
- High tannin, high acidity.
How it is made
Barolo DOCG rules are strict: the wine must be made from Nebbiolo alone, grown inside the defined zone, and aged a minimum of thirty-eight months before release, of which at least eighteen must be in wood. The grape itself is thin-skinned and late-ripening, which is why it holds both high acid and high tannin at once.
How it tastes
Dried rose petal and tar sit at the front, the classic markers of Nebbiolo, with red cherry and dried herbs underneath. The tannins are firm and the acidity is high, so the wine reads as structured rather than soft. It is a Barolo built for time in the cellar.
Where it comes from
The Langhe hills around the town of Barolo are clay and limestone, and Nebbiolo is grown almost nowhere else with the same results. The name comes from nebbia, the fog that settles over these hills at harvest.
Good to know
Barolo has been called the wine of kings since the House of Savoy took it up in the nineteenth century. Nebbiolo is one of the few red grapes that is genuinely pale in the glass, almost Pinot Noir in colour, while carrying some of the heaviest tannin in the world.
Contains alcohol.
