2017 Barbaresco, Montestefano, Luigi Giordano, Piedmont, Italy
About this WINE
Luigi Giordano
The winery was founded by Giovanni Giordano in the 1930s, when Barbaresco was all but unknown. After a period of growing and selling grapes, Giovanni’s son Luigi made the bold decision to vinify and bottle his own grapes in 1958. He was one of the few visionary producers confident in the quality of his wine and potential of his terroir. This a brave move helped Barbaresco move forward on a path of quality winemaking, and Luigi’s decision paved the way for many Barbaresco producers.
Today, Luigi Giordano lies a stone’s throw from Barbaresco’s small village centre, run by Luigi’s grandson Matteo Rocca. Young, talented, and ambitious, he respectfully continues the winery’s elegant and staunchly traditional style, with long macerations on skins and maturation in large oak botti. Since joining in 2011, he has invested maximum time in the vineyard. Every year, the wines gain greater definition and detail, better articulating their impressive sites.
Nebbiolo
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.
A notoriously pernickety grape, it requires sheltered south-facing sites and performs best on the well-drained calcareous marls to the north and south of Alba in the DOCG zones of Barbaresco and Barolo.
Langhe Nebbiolo is effectively the ‘second wine’ of Piedmont’s great Barolo & Barbarescos. This DOC is the only way Langhe producers can declassify their Barolo or Barbaresco fruit or wines to make an early-drinking style. Unlike Nebbiolo d’Alba, Langhe Nebbiolo can be cut with 15% other red indigenous varieties, such as Barbera or Dolcetto.
Nebbiolo flowers early and ripens late, so a long hang time, producing high levels of sugar, acidity and tannins; the challenge being to harvest the fruit with these three elements ripe and in balance. The best Barolos and Barbarescos are perfumed with aromas of tar, rose, mint, chocolate, liquorice and truffles. They age brilliantly and the very best need ten years to show at their best.
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Description
Giordano owns one hectare of the prized Montestefano vineyard, the first Barbaresco cru to be recognised in 1961. Its very steep slopes face directly south with soils of blue clay and some of the highest calcium levels in the region; consequently, it is often referred to as “the Barolo of Barbaresco”, producing darker, more structural wines. Aromas of black cherry, cola and a whiff of smoke lead to a dense, sweet core of black forest fruit, earth and mountain herbs. The wine is robust, but still with unmistakable Barbaresco elegance and freshness. Drink 2024-2040.
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