2018 Barolo, Specola, Figli Luigi Oddero, Piedmont, Italy

2018 Barolo, Specola, Figli Luigi Oddero, Piedmont, Italy

Product: 20188027687
Prices start from £75.50 per bottle (75cl). Buying options
2018 Barolo, Specola, Figli Luigi Oddero, Piedmont, Italy

Buying options

Available for delivery or collection. Pricing includes duty and VAT.

Description

The Figli Luigi Oddero 2018 Barolo Specola shows a slightly ripe and robust profile with dark cherry, plum and a mid-weight texture. It shows an immediate personality with an open-knit texture with a nice sense of fruit weight and concentration. This Barolo has the acidity and richness to pair with wild fowl or game hen.

Drink 2023 - 2035

Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (August 2022)

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Critics reviews

Jancis Robinson MW17++/20

La Morra. Grapes come from the Rive cru, which is always the first to be harvested because of its southern exposure, its elevation of 260 m above sea level and the sandy calcareous soils which heat up fast, speeding up phenolic ripeness and sugar accumulation in the berries. ‘You cannot produce a very complex Barolo, but rather a very fine Barolo.’ It isn’t known what clones are in this 60-year-old, mass-selection vineyard.

A little more youthful ruby than their Barolo Classico. Profound cherry fruit with a touch of talcum powder. Proper concentration and ripeness on the palate, but still a little backwards. Beautiful balance and finesse with a long, fragrant, chewy finish.

Drink 2022 - 2030

Walter Speller, JancisRobinson.com (December 2021)

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Wine Advocate93/100

The Figli Luigi Oddero 2018 Barolo Specola shows a slightly ripe and robust profile with dark cherry, plum and a mid-weight texture. It shows an immediate personality with an open-knit texture with a nice sense of fruit weight and concentration. This Barolo has the acidity and richness to pair with wild fowl or game hen.

Drink 2023 - 2035

Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (August 2022)

Read more

About this WINE

Figli Luigi Oddero

Figli Luigi Oddero

One of the headline names of the region, the Oddero family has been producing wines from impressive vineyard holdings around Piedmont since 1878. Brothers Giacomo and Luigi Oddero grew the winery’s reputation as one of the Langhe’s most esteemed cantinas, amicably splitting the estate in 2006. Luigi passed away in 2009, having retained 32hc and many of the best vineyards, and the cantina is now run by his widow and children. Francesco Versio is the head winemaker here; hugely respected, he learnt his craft at Bruno Giacosa under Dante Scaglione before joining Figli Luigi Oddero in 2017.

Now, there is new focus and a capable team in place. Francesco sees great opportunity here and maintains the ethos of this historical winemaking family, making traditional expressions with impressive technical judgement. The resulting wines are elegant and fine, with a vivid sense of origin.

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Barolo

Barolo

Located due south of Alba and the River Tanaro, Barolo is Piedmont's most famous wine DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita), renowned for producing Italy's  finest red wines from 100 percent Nebbiolo

Its red wines were originally sweet, but in 1840 the then extant Italian monarchy, the House of Savoy, ordered them to be altered to a dry style. This project was realised by French oenologist Louis Oudart, whose experience with Pinot Noir had convinced him of Nebbiolo's potential. The Barolo appellation was formalised in 1966 at around 1,700 hectares – only a tenth of the size of Burgundy, but almost three times as big as neighbouring Barbaresco.

Upgraded to DOCG status in 1980, Barolo comprises two distinct soil types: the first is a Tortonian sandy marl that produces a more feminine style of wine and can be found in the villages of Barolo, La Morra, Cherasco, Verduno, Novello, Roddi and parts of Castiglione Falletto. The second is the older Helvetian sandstone clay that bestows the wines with a more muscular style. This can be found in Monforte d'Alba, Serralunga d'Alba, Diano d'Alba, Grinzane Cavour and the other parts of Castiglione Falletto. Made today from the Nebbiolo clones Lampia, Michet and Rosé, Barolo has an exceptional terroir with almost every village perched on its own hill. The climate is continental, with an extended summer and autumn enabling the fickle Nebbiolo to achieve perfect ripeness.

Inspired by the success of modernists such as Elio Altare, there has been pressure in recent years to reduce the ageing requirements for Barolo; this has mostly been driven by new producers to the region, often with no Piedmontese viticultural heritage and armed with their roto-fermenters and barriques, intent on making a fruitier, more modern style of wine.

This modern style arguably appeals more to the important American market and its scribes, but the traditionalists continue to argue in favour of making Barolo in the classic way. They make the wine in a mix of epoxy-lined cement or stainless-steel cuves, followed by extended ageing in 25-hectoliter Slavonian botte (barrels) to gently soften and integrate the tannins. However, even amongst the traditionalists there has been a move, since the mid-1990s, towards using physiologically (rather than polyphenolically) riper fruit, aided by global warming. Both modernist and traditional schools can produce exceptional or disappointing wines.

Recommended traditionalist producers:
Giacomo Borgogno, Giacomo Conterno, Bruno Giacosa, Elio Grasso, Marcarini, Bartolo Mascarello and Giuseppe Mascarello.

Recommended nmdernist producers:
Azelia, Aldo Conterno, Luciano Sandrone, Paolo Scavino and Roberto Voerzio

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Nebbiolo

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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When is a wine ready to drink?

We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.

Not ready

These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.

Ready - youthful

These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.

Ready - at best

These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.

Ready - mature

These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.