2019 Barolo, del Comune di La Morra, Marcarini, Piedmont, Italy
Critics reviews
The 2019 Barolo del Comune di La Morra is an attractive, entry-level Barolo that will drink well right out of the gate. Sweet dried cherry, spice, cedar, pipe tobacco, mint and orange zest lend notable aromatic presence to this understated, classy Barolo from Marcarini. Drink it over the next handful of years. This is a very pretty 2019
Drink 2023 - 2031
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (November 2022)
Lustrous mid ruby with orange tinges. A little dusty at first, then stones and red fruit with hints of raw rhubarb. Elegant palate weight with long wild-strawberry and raspberry fruit. Firm tannins but playing second fiddle. Almost a little exotic. Complex. Lithe.
Drink 2023 - 2030
Walter Speller, JancisRobinson.com (May 2023)
Made with grapes from the estate’s Brunate and La Serra crus, this opens with lovely scents recalling blue flower and baked plum. Smooth and delicious, the palate offers ripe red cherry, crushed raspberry and baking spice alongside polished tannins.
Drink now to 2034
Kerin O'Keefe, KerinOKeefe.com (March 2023)
About this WINE
Marcarini
Few views in Barolo can compete with the one from Marcarini’s terrace in La Morra. Encompassing most of the region’s communes and vineyards, one only has to look south-east to see Barolo’s modest size, cradled in the Italian Alps. It is fitting that Marcarini occupies this prime location; the winery is built underneath La Morra’s medieval watchtower, a signpost to the Marchetti family cantina that’s visible across the region.
Over time, Podere Marcarini has become one of the region’s leading names and in many ways represents both its traditions and future. Owner Manuel Marchetti implements long fermentations, macerations, and ageing in large ancient botti. Marcarini’s wines remains traditional, but we’re finding a new zip and lift of energy for this historic cantina. Manuel’s children Elisa and Andrea now play an active role, focusing on the health of the vineyards, viticultural processes, and improvements in the cellar.
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
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.
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.
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Description
A late harvest in La Morra has yielded beautiful results for the Barolo Comune Di La Morra, a blend of the two Marcarini cru. Manuel gave this a short maceration of just 10 days, which compared to his other Barolo, has kept the fruit pure and the tannins fresh. After two years in botti, this is a pleasing and sweetly-scented wine. The palate has a charming core of fruit and dried floral details. This is on the softer side of 2019, yet there is a nod to the powerful terroir from which it hails.
Drink 2023 - 2037
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