Barolo, Cannubi, 2012

Dark, ripe and rich with autumn fruit, kirsch and creme de cassis flavours, cloaked with a silky but evident tannic structure. This has the most wonderfully svelte texture and although the wine is clearly young and a little reticent, there is plenty of charm and allure. A small parcel from which only 300 cases are produced. This is what the Scavinos call “Cannubi Cannubi”. (Their parcel is at the very heart of the Cannubi vineyard with a blue marne, limestone and sandy soil and south-east exposure situated at 290 metres above sea level, lending the wine a combination of silky fruit and structure.) The first vintage Scavino bottled was 1985, the vines were planted in 1946 with the low-yielding, darker fruit Nebbiolo michet clone. Cannubi is one of the historic crus of Barolo, in fact such was the fame of the vineyard in the past that wines here were sold as “Cannubio” before Barolo as a defined vineyard region even existed.