2019
75cl
DP
£96.41
vintage
portfolio
2019
75cl
DP
£96.41
2019
6x75cl
DP
£578.42
2019
1x1.5L
DP
£205.61
2019
1x3L
DP
£518.02
It is fascinating to taste a line-up of three first rate Serralunga vineyards side-by-side. If the Margheria centred on the nerve and spice, and San Rocco depth of fruit and concentration, then the Cerretta is marked out by its elegance of perfume. Full bodied with silky fine boned tannins, it is laced with notes of wild flowers, violet and incense. There is a sensuality to the red and black fruits and a tapered feel on the finish. A really outstanding Barolo. Azelia has one big block of 2.5ha here, but only 3500 bottles are produced under the cru label. The wine is aged in one big barrel for 30 months. Most of the rest of the wine is declassified and blended into the Barolo Classico. Originally, they rented the plot and replanted it entirely on the understanding that they would have first refusal to buy. Ten years later it was theirs. This was thirty years ago. Cerretta has been Luigi Scavino’s baby from start to finish. 2016 was the first vintage vinified separately. The soils are a blend of clay, limestone and chalk.
Owner Luigi Scavino, cousin and neighbour of Piemonte legend Enrico Scavino, started off life as one of the typical modern Piedmont producers: no expense was spared as new oak was used for the top wines, yields were low and the sparkling new fermenting vats were of stainless steel. Many of these aspects still apply however Azelia have refined their techniques enormously over the years, rarely using more than 20% new oak and employing large botti casks as well as barriques for the ageing process. They are now very among Barolo's leading lights. They produce a superb Dolcetto planted at 500 metres above sea level on a south facing slope in th prime Montelupo district and their oak-aged Barbera is extremely fine too. All of their Nebbiolo holdings are spread out over the Castiglione Falletto and Serralunga regions where the vine produces full bodied, intense and complex wines. The top two wines are the ethereal but powerful Bricco Fiasco frmo Castiglione (the same vineyard as Scavino's Bric del Fiasc) and the explosive, spicy San Rocco from Serralunga. In only the best of vintages a Barolo Riserva is made from the ideally situated vineyard in Serralunga, Voghera.
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