The Private Client team, along with an army of Buyers, spent three days in Piemonte in early February. Our Account Managers share their experience of those three days…

“After my first day of tasting, I couldn’t help but reflect on the sheer beauty of the place.”

Our first tasting experience of both the 2019 Barolo and 2020 Barbaresco vintage was at Luigi Einaudi situated in Dogliani, slightly outside the Barolo region. Einaudi has been a family-run operation since 1897. Family clearly means a lot to them – our tasting was set to the dulcet tones of pianist Ludovico Einaudi, their cousin! The combined effect of the beautiful wines, the stunning view from their impressively slick tasting room and indeed the musical backing, cast quite a spell.

Although Einaudi is larger than many of the producers we represent, there was an impression that everything is still done on a small-scale compared to other world class wine regions. A mere 3,500 bottles are made of the Barolo Villero per year, for instance, and we were all surprised and beguiled by the unique “Super Piemonte” Luigi Einaudi Langhe Rosso 2018; just 5,000 bottles made of a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo, Merlot and Barbera… how could something which on paper sounds so wrong taste so right?!

Guido Porro was our second visit of the day. A new producer for Jeroboams, and at one eighth of the size of Einaudi, this is the epitome of a small-scale, family run operation, where everything is done with the greatest of care. The production of their flagship Barolo Vigna Rionda, for instance, is so small that it fits into just two slightly differently sized barrels! I was also struck by their Barolo Gianetto for just how good it was, with one colleague remarking “dreamy”. Their Barolo Lazzairasco, hailing from a portion of Lazzarito, which is known for making some of the most powerful Barolo, I described as simply “big mamma!” These are wonderful wines made in a caring and traditional style that all Barolo lovers ought to be seeking out.

After lunch we headed to Ciabot Berton, which any of our regulars will know well. This small scale family run producer (notice a theme?) stepped out of the mould in 1961 when they made wines under their own name, in a time where the region was dominated by negociants. Their lead was followed by so many – a huge reason Barolo and Barbaresco now offer such a stunning variety of wines and wineries! I was reminded when I tried the 2021 Barbera Fisetta that this wine was, almost 16 years ago, the first wine to grace my staff account. It is reassuring to see that they continue to produce some of the most delicious and excellent value for money wines that we import.

A wonderful first day was capped off with a visit to Voerzio Martini. In a winery that traces its roots back to the 60’s, the winery’s future is now preserved by the brother and sister twins Mirko and Federica, who took over the reins aged only 23 years old! Their enthusiasm is infectious, and their wines brilliant. After trying the trendy varieties such as Arneis, Timorasso and their gently sparkling red, Freisa, we got into the serious stuff. The 2020 Barolo Monvigliero was a standout – silky, mellifluous perfume… positively Burgundian in its gracefulness and subtle power. Our resident Master of Wine Peter Mitchell called it “cracking”!

After my first ever day of tasting in Barolo and Barbaresco I couldn’t help but reflect on the sheer beauty of the place. The terrain is a myriad of soils brought down from the Alps after the last ice age millennia ago in hills that ripple like wind on a pond. The nuances of gradient, aspect and soil give the wines so much variety, with a complexity of terroir that is perhaps the world’s only serious match to Burgundy. These hills in winter are shrouded in mist, with ever-changing shadows in the winter sunlight, and always in the distance you are reminded by the presence of the jaggedpeaked Alps, covered in snow on almost every side, that Piemonte after all, means “foothills”.