Top-rated Barolo crus -- tranche #3: Cannubi, Gabutti, Parafada, Lazzarito, Marenca, and Rivette

Three of the foremost Barolo vineyard experts -- Renato Ratti, Alessandro Masnaghetti, and Antonio Galloni -- have each taken a shot at classifying the crus in the Barolo zone (I have shared the frameworks of the individual schemes in a prior post.). In this series I am providing an account of the top-rated crus as identified by these experts. In the first post, I presented the crus where there was full agreement among these experts. At least two of the experts had to have identified the cru as top-level for it to be covered in the second post. In this post I cover the top-level crus identified as such solely by Renato Ratti.

The crus rated as top-level by Ratti only are Cannubi (rated as Noteworthy by Galloni and Three Stars by Masnaghetti), Gabutti (rated as Outstanding by Galloni and Three Stars by Masnaghetti), Parafada (rated as Outstanding by Galloni and Four Stars by Masnaghetti), Lazzarito (rated similarly to Parafada by Galloni and Masnaghetti), Marenca (Outstanding by Galloni, Three Stars by Masnaghetti), and Rivette (same as for Marenca). It should be noted that, in his classification, Ratti treated Gabutti and Parafada as a hyphenated vineyard and similarly treated Marenca and Rivette. In today's nomenclature, these vineyards are separate MGAs. The characteristics of these crus are shown below.

Cannubi

Cannubi is a long, gradually sloping hill which extends northeast from the village of Barolo and is contained in its entirety within the namesake commune. According to the Marchesi di Barolo website, Cannubi hill is protected from storms and extreme weather by higher neighboring hills. Both Damilano and Marchesi di Barolo point to the uniqueness of the hill in that it sits at the convergence of the aforementioned Helvetian and Tortonian soil zones resulting in "grey-blue marls rich in magnesium and manganese carbonate that, on the surface, thanks to the air and the weathering, turn into grey-white marls" (Marchesi di Barolo).

Chiara Boschis' Pira e Figli was the first Cannubi estate to convert to organic farming, gaining its certification in 2014 (Labor of Love). But she was not content with practicing this only in her vineyard. She became an evangelist on Cannubi such that today fully 99% of the producers on the hill are organic.

I tasted the 2012 Barolo Cannubi on a visit with Chiara earlier this year. Cherry, plum, tar, and herbs were the hallmarks of this wine along with a waxiness and massive tannin structure. This wine will last for a while.

I tasted the 2013 Barolo Cannubi on a visit with Silvia Altare of Elio Altare. The wine was floral on the nose along with red fruit, spice, and blackpepper. Beautiful weight on the palate and excellent finish.

Gabutti
"We are not exaggerating when we say that Gabutti is the starting point of a long ribbon of vineyards along the side of the most prestigious hill in the municipality of Serralunga, and one of the most outstanding in the entire Barolo DOCG zone." (Petrini, A Wine Atlas of the Langhe). But this strong endorsement did not result in the elevation of this MGA to the uppermost ranks of the Masnaghetti and Galloni schemas. According to Petrini, in making the decision to designate Gabutti to the highest levels of his schema, Ratti was guided by "the widespread beliefs of growers in the area and by a long-established hierarchy that had taken root in the popular consciousness and was reflected in prices in the market."

The south-facing aspect, steep slope, and protection from the wind combine to render this MGA a prime location for the growth of Nebbiolo grapes. Soils are of the Lequio Formation with loose calcareous clay marls from the Langhian stage of the Miocene epoch.

Masnaghetti sees the beating heart of the MGA as the area between Parafada and Cascina Marianot where the southern exposure compensates for the relative lack of luminosity. The style of wines from that area range from "the rugged and rather classical tannic impact of of the Cappellano wines to the rougher Barolo of Franco Boasso, whereas the eastern side of the cru offers the flowing and floral style of Giovanni Sordo's Gabutti."

Parafada
This vineyard is more uniform in its exposure that Gabutti or Lazzarito and can be seen as a bridge between those two MGAs (Masnaghetti). The Delizia plot, primarily owned by Fontanafredda, produces very high-quality wines from its "fairly shallow white clay and limestone marl" soils (Petrini).

The wines from Parafada are "less voluminous than Lazzarito and more refined than Gabutti" and are endowed with the vigor and presence on palate and nose that is the hallmark of a first-order wine (Masnaghetti).

Lazzarito
A large vineyard in Serralunga d'Alba whose name can probably be traced back to an ancient hospital for Black Plague victims on the property. According to Masnaghetti, the vineyard can be divided into two parts:

• Eastern slope -- smaller in size and less well known
• Western slope -- can be further divided into the La Delizia and Lazzarito amphitheaters

Masnaghetti also references a < 2 ha plot lower down on the slope called Lazzairasco, an area with favorable south to southeast exposure and with excellent quality potential. Santa Caterina, on the southern boundary, like Lazzairasco, was absorbed by Lazzarito in 1990 during the township-mapping process.

A significant portion of the vineyard is owned by Fontanafredda but Ettore Germano and Vietti also farm plots there. Sergio Germano (Ettore Germano) and Luca Currado (Vietti) were both interviewed about the vineyard on a Vinous video. Sergio sees the main characteristics of the vineyard as the elegance and finesse that it imparts to the wine. The wine is strong with lean-textured tannins and a lengthy finish. The soil has a high limestone concentration but also has some beach-like sand which gives a "slim texture" to the wine.

Luca found the vineyard challenging; he farms it more with his stomach than with his palate. It provides good minerality, spiciness, and complexity to the wine and its amphitheater-like shape provides great exposure for the grapes.

I had the opportunity to taste the 2012 Lazzarito at the Vietti estate.

The 1.7 ha Vietti plot is SW facing and the 39-year-old vines are planted 4500 vines/ha. The 2012 Lazzarito had a nose of beautiful, rich red fruit with baking spices, black pepper, and a savoriness. Powerful wine with sweet red fruits dominating the palate.

Marenca
The pronounced amphitheater of the Marenca vineyard provides the vines with excellent exposure to sunlight. The soil is a calcareous clay.

There is only one labeled wine wine originating from the vineyard -- produced by Luigi Pira -- but it is of high quality "with a structure which is among the deepest and most complex of the entire township" (Masnaghetti).

Rivette
The vineyard sits at the foot of the inhabited area of Serralunga d'Alba and is immediately recognizable by the vine rows running vertically up the hillside rather than horizontally across the hill, as is the case for neighboring  vineyards.

According to Petrini, Rivette has always been regarded as an excellent location for growing Nebbiolo. The soil is a loosely packed marl and limestone mix and the quality of the grape are "beyond dispute." Petrini's description of the MGA is a little at odds with that of Masnaghetti's who states that, with the exception of a few small plots owned by Pira and Massolino, the remainder of the vineyard -- owned by Gaja -- is used for white grape production.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

The top-rated Barolo crus: Brunate, Cerequio, and Rocche di Castiglione

Beginning with the work of Renato Ratti in the 1970s, and continuing through cartographer Alessandro Masnaghetti, and the more recent efforts of Antonio Galloni, there have been lauded efforts to classify and rank the vineyards of the Barolo region. The table below shows the classification schemas employed by the three mentioned gentlemen.

Class	Ratti	Masnaghetti	Galloni
1	Best sub-regions of high qualitative peculiarity	*****S	Exceptional
2	Sub-region with special characteristics	*****	Outstanding
3	Historic sub-regions of wine growing	****	Noteworthy
4 5 6 7		*** ** * NC	Delimited

Alfonso Cevola, in a 2015 article, compared the highest levels of these three Barolo classification schemes in order to determine the degree of alignment at the top. The Cevola comparison was presented in tabular form. I present that data graphically below.

Beyond the analysis provided in the Cevola article, the data show that only four of the top-level crus are located on Tortonian soils with the remaining 12 sited on Helvetian soils.

One of the Cevola findings was the fact that there was unanimous agreement that three crus were among the very best in the region: Brunate, Cerequio, and Rocche di Castiglione. The characteristics of these crus are presented below.

Brunate
According to vinous.com, Brunate had been identified as producing "wines of special character" over 500 years ago. This 25-ha cru is an inter-commune vineyard with administrative responsibility shared between the towns of Barolo and La Morra. According to ceretto.com, the soil profiles and exposure on both sides of the communes dividing line are essentially the same but the altitudes differ, ranging from 230 m to 400 m. The soils feature marls of S. Agata fossils with good levels of sand, especially in the higher elevations.

Cantinadamilano.it reports that:

The lower sand levels in the soil result in aromas that are less intense but feature notes of fruit and spice such as clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg. As the wine matures, the fine structure of the terroir translates into hints of tobacco, rose and liquorice. And in great vintages, the nose has notes of truffle and tar. Alkalinity and elevated calcium levels give the final wine a touch of delicate elegance ... The Barolo of Brunate can be defined as a particularly balanced wine with an ample nose and an intense structure with good alcohol levels, as well as, generous tannins and body.

According to ceretto.com, "It is one of the most representative vineyards of the commune of La Morra and has always been considered one of the points of reference of the entire appellation." Vinous cites Manuel Marchetti of Marcarini who identified Brunate wines as "austere, yet ethereal, notes of spices, mint, licorice and balsamic are all very typical." Polaner Selections was pithy: "Brunate is one of the greatest vineyards in the Barolo region ... with wines that "... are prized for their depth, power and brilliant balance..."

Cerequio
Masnaghetti describes this MGA as extending over two virtually opposing slopes with the one facing Casa Nere being better exposed and yielding the better wines of the two.The micro-climate of the MGA is excellent, protected as it is from the cold northern winds by the La Morra hills. The loose soils, primarily silt and clay, "favors the production of structured, tannic wines that are more powerful than those from Brunate" (cantinadamilano.com).

Masnaghetti sees Cerequio as "An MGA of truly superior level, accordingly, which generally expresses a style characterized by structure and austerity but with an innate sense of power and proportion which gives this Barolo a warmer and more dynamic development on the palate compared to Brunate."

Rocche di Castiglione
Up until the 1960s, the received wisdom in Barolo production was the blending of fruit from various vineyards in order to meld these individual characteristics into a multi-faceted, sum-of-the-parts wine. It was not until 1961 that the Currados of Vietti and Beppe Cola of Prunotto made the decision to bottle unblended wines; wines that would showcase the character of the area within which the grapes were grown. Borrowing from the French terminology, a "cru" Barolo. In the Vietti case they chose to bottle a wine from the highly regarded Rocche di Castiglione cru while Beppe Cola drew on his Bussia cru.

Rocche di Castiglione, described by Masnaghetti as one of the most prestigious crus in all of the Barolo appellation, is located 88% in the Castiglione Falletto township and 12% in Monforte d'Alba. Its 14.36 ha (stated elsewhere in the book as 16.33 ha) has 52% devoted to vineyards (92% of vines in Castiglione Falletto and the remainder in Monforte d'Alba), and 95% of those vines growing Barolo-targeted Nebbiolo fruit. The remaining vines are targeted at Dolcetto (5%), Barbera (0.5%), and Langhe Rosso (0.5%).

Winemonger.com describes the cru thusly:

Rocche di Castiglione is one of the smallest and most renowned vineyards of the entire Barolo area. Located at an altitude of 300-350 meters above sea level, this "Cru" consists of a number of small, steep vineyard properties, and forms a long narrow strip along the side of a very steep hill with an east-southeast exposition. The lower part of this long strip of earth, which is about 1.5 km long and 60-70 meters high, sits on a cliff (rocche) that in some places drops as much as 150 meters to the Perno river at the bottom. It is characterized by large, sharp limestone blocks mixed in with the marl soil typical of the eastern side of the Barolo appellation, known as "Helvetian soils" and producing the more structured, long aging and complex wines. 

These characteristics give the wines of Rocche unique, well-defined aromas of floral and mineral compounds, softer tannins than the rest of the Helvetian zone resulting in excellent balance, and a distinctive elegance. An 'iron fist in a velvet glove."

Luca Currado, in his comments at the Galloni Rocche di Castiglione Retrospective, described Rocche wine as being like a Swiss watch in that it is very difficult to put together. First, the vineyard is steep and very difficult to work; everything has to be done by hand.  Second, vinifying Rocche is a challenging exercise. They do extended submerged cap and the tannins always take a long time to come together and then ... pop. According to Luca, you have to wait longer for the Rocche tannins to resolve than for any of his other wines.

Luca and Elena Penna Currado at the Galloni
tasting

Castiglione Falletto is located between Serralunga d'Alba and La Morra and its Rocche di Castiglione MGA has elements of both of these bordering communes. According to Luca, Rocche wines have the silky tannins and elegance of La Morra and the complexity, depth and power of Serralunga d'Alba.

*******************************************************************************************************
I will be covering the remaining MGAs mentioned in the three rating schemas in future posts on this blog.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme