How To Immerse Yourself In Barolo In One Day

Marla
Jul 8
4 min read

Barolo is arguably the best-known wine from Italy’s Piedmont region. Often called the “king of wines” due to both its quality and its historical connection to the Italian royal family, many consider it one of the most prestigious wines of Italy. It is a full-bodied red wine made solely from the Nebbiolo grape and revered for its tannins and ability to age, sometimes up to 30 years, which is why it’s popular with wine collectors.

Located in a part of the Piedmont called Langhe, Barolo itself consists of 11 villages near the regional capital of Alba. To be called Barolo, not only must the wine be from grapes grown in this designated area, but also it must meet other strict rules, such as particular concentrations of grapes in a hectare and production from grapes grown on hillsides but not with northern exposure. As a result, only 65 percent of the wines made in the Barolo region can be called “Barolo.”

But for all of its prestige, the region is not overrun with tourists, at least not yet. As we’ve noted previously, it really helps to have a knowledgeable tour guide for this area. We had a wonderful trip with Alessio, a winemaker who specializes in private, customizable tours. While his usual tour includes both Barolo and Barbaresco, another icon of Italian red wine, since on this tour we wanted to focus on Barolo, Alessio designed our tour that way.

Here's how we immersed ourselves in Barolo in one day.

Monchiero

The first winery we visited was Monchiero, in the village of Castiglione Falletto. The winery was founded by our guide Stephano’s grandfather. As is typical in Piedmont, the family used to grow grapes to sell to others before deciding to make its own wine. Stephano also told us that in the past, Dolcetto, another red varietal, was more popular than Barolo, and people would give away a bottle of Barolo when selling a Dolcetto. Nowadays Dolcetto is considered more of an everyday red. How times have changed!

We had a private tour of the cellar and then our tasting in the winery’s tasting room, accompanied by breadsticks, a regional specialty.

We sampled:

Langhe Arneis, a white wine 😊😊

Dolcetto D’Alba DOC 😊++

Langhe DOC Nebbiolo 😊++

Langhe Nebbiolo Anfora, a new wine started in 2021, aged in amphora 😊😊

Barolo DOCG del Comune di Castiglione Falletto 😊😊

Barolo DOCG Rocche di Castiglione 😊😊+

Barolo DOCG Montanello, similar to a riserva 😊😊+

Cantina Luigi Pira

The second winery we visited was Cantina Luigi Pira, located in the village of Serralunga d’Alba. The family has owned the land for five generations, and it too opted in the early 1990s to stop selling its grapes and bottle its own wines. There was only one other occupied table during our tasting; theirs was conducted in Italian. 😊

We sampled:

Dolcetto D’Alba DOC 😊++

Barbera D’Alba Superiore DOC 😊😊+

Langhe Nebbiolo DOC 😊++

Barolo del Comune di Serralunga D’Alba DOCG, the winery's classic Barolo 😊😊

Barolo Margheria DOCG, single vineyard, deeper than the classic 😊😊

Barolo Marenca DOCG, also single vineyard, aged in bigger barrels, so smoother 😊😊

Barolo Vignarionda DOCG, one of the most well-known vineyards in Barolo 😊😊+

Barolo Serralunga 2015, which was not for sale 😊++

Alessio then took us to rustic L’Osteria del Vignaiolo (“The Winemaker’s Inn”) for a lunch of Piedmont specialties in La Morra, one of the more well-known Barolo villages. Everyone else there was local. We had a wonderful meal al fresco overlooking the countryside.

Silvano Bolmida

Our third winery, Silvano Bolmida is located high on a hill in Bussia di Monforte d’Alba. Owner Silvano’s father was, as in keeping with the area, also a farmer who sold his grapes to others. Silvano preferred to make his own wine.

Silvano gave us an extensive education about Barolo as well as a sample of Nebbiolo aging in steel tanks that in a few years will qualify as Barolo.

This tour of the cellar and tasting was also completely private. He paired each wine with a different-shaped glass and examples of the different soils that each wine was grown in, such as shell, marl, and limestone.

We sampled:

Barolo DOGC Bussia 😊++

Barolo DOCG Le Coste di Monforte 😊++

Barolo DOCG Bussia Vigna dei Fantini 😊++

Barolo DOCG Bussia Riserva 😊😊

Langhe DOC Nebbiolo Frales 😊++

An unlabeled Sauvignon Blanc 😊++