BAROLO DOCG

The Barolo “vinum regum, rex vinorum”

Barolo is certainly one of the most famous and appreciated Italian wines in the world, the red wine par excellence.

Its history dates back thousands of years, as early as 2500 years ago the people living in the area, such as the Ligurian Starzielli, cultivated vines of this grape, which was also appreciated at the time of the Roman Empire by the great leader and emperor Julius Caesar, who on his return from the Gallic wars fell in love with this wine from the area of Alba Pompeia and decided to take large quantities of it to Rome.

The fruit used to produce this wine is the Nebbiolo grape, already known and appreciated in medieval times under the archaic name of “Nibiol”.

The fame of this product continued to grow exponentially over the years, and in 1751 we know that a case of this wine, already called ‘Barol’, was sent to London where it was a great success, so much so that it even bewitched the young Thomas Jefferson, who was touring Europe at the time, who described it in his diaries as ‘almost as sweet as Bordeaux and as lively as Champagne’. As we can deduce from the words used by the future president of the United States, at that time we were dealing with a different wine from that of today, it was sweet and sparkling, due to the different vinification process and the knowledge of the time that did not allow the transformation of all the sugars contained in the alcohol.

For the birth of Barolo as we know it today we have to wait until 1830 and thank some of the most famous historical figures of the time, including Count Camillo Benso di Cavour (then mayor of Grinzane), the Marquises Falletti (especially a great woman, the Marquise Giulia Falletti di Barolo) and the famous French oenologist Louis Oudart. They succeeded in transforming it, thanks to the new vinification process, into the dry and still wine that we know and love today.

In these years Barolo became so popular that it was appreciated by the King of Italy, Carlo Alberto of Savoy (who also bought land to produce it) and began to be enjoyed in all the great courts of Europe where it became increasingly successful as “vinum regum, rex vinorum”. Therefore, from the beginning of the 20th century, it was necessary to protect the brand name and origin of the wine from fakes.

During the Risorgimento, Barolo even became the wine that symbolised the Unification of Italy, perhaps because it reflected all the characteristics of the Italian people. In fact, it is a “resistant” wine, as is its vine variety, and thanks to its resilience it survived the Great War and the terrible phylloxera epidemic that struck the vines in those years.

In 1927 the “Decree of typical wines” was published in the Official Gazette with the list of territories delimited for the production of Barolo, in fact even today there are only 11 municipalities in the Langa where it is possible to cultivate Nebbiolo grapes and produce Barolo DOCG.

Over the last century, the production of this wine has been refined to the point of arriving at the vinification technique still in use today, which involves 13/14 days of fermentation, two years in wooden barrels and one in the bottle. This speeds up production times and consequently consumption, in favour of the great demand for this wine on the Italian and international markets.

Barolo is an important wine, with its traditional dark but brilliant red colour and its warm, sensual and full-bodied flavour, which make it the perfect accompaniment to sophisticated dishes, from the most innovative and experimental to the traditional classics that share its origins with Barolo.

It is also a fundamental ingredient in the preparation of two cornerstones of Piedmontese gastronomic tradition, braised beef and risotto with Barolo.