Cellar Series : Barolo and Barbaresco
Time & Location
02 Apr 2025, 18:30 – 22:30
67 Pall Mall, London, 67 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5ES, UK
About
IWFS Capital Branch’s Cellar Series focused on Barolo and Barbaresco, in Piemonte Italy. As was confirmed at the dinner, there's scarcely a more captivating region on Earth for ethereal, age-worthy wine. The hilly, temperately continental terroir allows the noble Nebbiolo grape to reach an optimal ripeness that cannot be achieved anywhere else. The result is a red wine – Barolo - that has been called ‘the King of Wines and the Wine of Kings’, given its tight history with the first king of unified Italy – Victor Emmanuel II. And if Barolo is King, Barbaresco is Queen – equal in majesty but with softer nuances. No wine cellar is complete without a selection of Bar-Bar!
Over the past 17 years, the region has been subdivided into specific growing areas (MGAs, or menzione geografica aggiuntiva) that are similar to 'climat' in Burgundy that seek to delimit specific characteristics of the area. The curated wines we tasted came from a selection of these MGAs to demonstrate the surprising diversity of the region. We had bottles ranging from recent vintages (including the fantastic 2016) to almost 60 years old to showcase the vaunted age-worthiness of Bar-Bar!
The wines tasted were as follows:
2014 Gaja Barbaresco
2016 Marchesi di Gresy Martinenga (Barbaresco)
2016 Casa E. di Mirafiore (Serralunga d'Alba)
2012 Rocche Costamagna Bricco Francesco Riserva (La Morra)
2012 Paolo Scavino Cannubi (Barolo)
2005 Domenico Clerico Ciabot Mentin (Ginestra, Monforte d'Alba)
2001 Aldo Conterno Colonnello (Bussia)
2007 Giacomo Conterno Francia (Serralunga d''Alba)
1967 Oddero Barbaresco
The eleven participants ranked their top three wines (excluding the 1967 Oddero). The cumulative results were as follows:
Third Place: a tie between the Aldo Conterno Colonnello and the Giacomo Conterno Francia
Second Place: the Gaja Barbaresco
First Place: Paolo Scavino Cannubi. Somewhat surprisingly, this wine won by a comfortable margin - a victory of sorts for the more 'modernist' style of winemaking in the region.
These fantastic bottles were preceded by a 2012 Contratto Millesimato pas Dose - a delicious sparkling wine from a historic UNESCO world heritage producer that is Italy's oldest trad-method sparkling wine producer. A delicious three course meal prepared by the Club’s new chef was included.
