2011 Barolo, Cannubi, Serio & Battista Borgogno, Piedmont, Italy

Nebbiolo is the grape behind the Barolo and Barbaresco wines and is hardly ever seen outside the confines of Piedmont. It takes its name from "nebbia" which is Italian for fog, a frequent phenomenon in the region.

Lying in the heart of one of Barolo’s most famous vineyard’s Cannubi in the village of Barolo, this small, traditional, 5th generation family-owned cantina (winery) dates back to 1897, and to Cavalier Francesco Borgogno. More recently it was his descendants, brothers Serio and Battista Borgogno who set about developing the cantina during the 1960s and ‘70s when the emphasis was largely on quantity not quality, buying in fruit/wine to fill their outsized winery. Today the baton has been passed to Serio’s daughters Anna (Bolla) and Paola (Boffa) and in turn their offspring Emanuela and Federica respectively. Anna’s husband Marco is making the wine, aided by Emanuela and since 2012 by enologo Luca Sarotto. These days the focus is increasingly on their vineyard holding of Cannubi, with plots facing south, north/east and west, while they continue to buy some fruit in for a separate white label range.   Vinification is traditional, fermenting in large wooden vats, before racking to Garbellotto and Veneto slavonian oak botte of up to 52hl for traditionally long affinamento/elevage. Bottling takes place without fining or filtering. They also release a long aged Riserva in good years.