Great debut in Rome for the Barolo 2015 and Barbaresco 2016. The two exceptional vintages were presented during an event, even better than a “Barolo & Barbaresco Festival” which took place on the terrace of the Marriott Grand Hotel Flora in via Veneto della Dolce Vita.
At what can be compared to the debutante ball they presented 119 producers (72 for Barolo and 47 for Barbaresco), with as many labels.
“The 2015 and 2016 harvests – he underlined Marco Rissone professor emeritus of the Enological School of Alba and master technical taster of the ONAV – these are two great vintages that have given us wines with characteristics of true excellence which, however, differ profoundly from a climatic point of view; in fact, 2015 is characterized by numerous anomalies due to significant meteoric contrasts which can be summarized in a strong thermal and water stress. First of all, the first anomaly is represented by the concentration of rainfall in the first hundred days of the year. The second begins in April and culminates in July and is represented by increasingly scarce rainfall and increasing temperatures which reach 36°C in July. In summary, a Mediterranean-type climatic trend rather than the Po Valley. The excellent harvest from which Barolo wines with exceptional organoleptic characteristics will be obtained is determined by a good climatic trend in August and especially in September, very favorable for the ripening of the grapes. The 2016 vintage was the best of the last twenty years for Barbaresco and the wine certainly deserves excellence from all points of view. These results were achieved because the climate was generous with rains in the spring. The summer passed without excessive temperatures with normal rainfall values, therefore extremely favorable for the ripening of the grapes. Note of excellence was September with very high temperatures much higher than the average values and a very important rainfall episode for the continuation of the maturation processes”. In the glass the Barolo 2015 has a brilliant ruby red color with some amaranth nuances in the rim. The aromas are composite and evolutionary, reminding us of fresh fruit such as apricots or wild strawberries and then evolving into delicate floral scents of violet and closing in very captivating spicy scents. In the mouth it is a generous wine, full-bodied with emerging but very soft tannins, with marked minerality. A wine of which great longevity can be expected”.
The Barolo phenomenon and the Barbary phenomenon, "an extraordinary heritage of our lands, the result of the great professionalism of winemakers and farms with strong traditions" assume a significant importance, not only culturally but also economically, for the development of these territories. This was underlined by the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Cuneo Ferruccio Dardanello” who provided some data that speak for themselves: “Cuneo ranks first among the Italian provinces for the percentage of registered vineyards and the highest number of DOCG wines. In 2018, the overall production surpassed 80 million bottles”. Barolo 2015, in the production area included in the Municipalities of Barolo, Castiglione Falletto, Cherasco, Diano d'Alba, Grinzane Cavour, La Morra, Monforte d'Alba, Novello, Roddi, Serralunga d'Alba and Verduno, has ensured over 14 million bottles, marketed by 354 companies, on a vineyard area of 2.073 hectares. The Barbarasco 2016, produced on a vineyard area of over 700 hectares, in the Municipalities of Alba, Barbaresco, Neive and Treiso, has instead ensured over 4 million and 800.000 bottles, marketed by 167 companies.
For both wines the percentage of exports reaches extraordinary levels (between 78 and 82% for Barolo and between 68 and 72% for Barbaresco) and is characterized by an excellent growth trend.
The idea of presenting the Festival in a hotel in the capital, states the president of the Enoteca Regionale del Barolo Federico Scarzello, is part of a series of national and international initiatives: "proposing ourselves together is a winning strategy for presenting wines to the public contemporaries, who play their personality in the immediacy of expression rather than in the opulence of character, because year after year the stylistic differences have become increasingly refined and no longer express the typical excesses of the past”. In the glass the Barbaresco 2016 shows a very intense ruby red color with some garnet reflections. The nose reveals elegant and delicate fruity and floral aromas at the same time with a very pleasant note of tobacco. In the mouth it is still austere, therefore it is a tasting in progress; the tannins are silky, it is a full-bodied wine, warm, balanced, very sapid and certainly long-lived. It is a vintage that will be talked about for many years”.
