Barolo Wine Week

Last week was the second annual Barolo Week launched by Italian winery Fontanafredda, Italy's most prominent and historic Barolo producers. Barolo week is aimed at introducing and educating young wine enthusiasts to the iconic wine from the Piedmont region of Italy.

Nebbiolo means fog in Italian 

I was invited to the wine tasting that took place at Eataly in Chicago, where I got a good insight into the history of Barolo and the area it is produced in. From what I learned this is a very unique wine, produced only in eleven small townships in the Langhe area of Piedmont. Fontanafredda is a winery estate established on land purchased by King Vittorio Emanuele II in 1858.

2010 Vigna La Rosa Barolo 

I am no sommelier so my take on these fine wines may not do them the justice they deserve. Of course I had my favorites at the tasting and to be honest I had no prior knowledge about Barolos, I had heard of them and have had one in the past but no in depth knowledge as such. I must also inform you that while I am sitting through this tasting I have no idea as far as how much these wines cost, I did go very blindly into the tasting this time around. For those of you who may know me, I have a "blind" expensive taste, I do not normally look at prices of things all I know is I like it so I'm having it and my luck has it that 90% of the time whatever I like is not cheap. Yes this is the number one reason for arguments between me and my other half, he will ask me how much something cost and I will have no idea because I chose to forget the price. So to cut the long story short of course I liked the most expensive wine at the tasting, my favorite was the 2010 Vigna La Rosa Barolo DOCG which is in the $100 and up range. I only know this because I went looking for it on the shop floor in Eataly hoping to find it but it wasn't available for another week. See! I didn't have to be a sommelier to tell you that.

2010 Contessa Rosa Rose 

There was a welcome Rosé, Contessa Rosa 2010 named after Countess Rosa Vercellana, Countess of Mirafiore and Fontanafredda. This is a sparkling wine made from grapes that are grown at high altitude, this quality blend is used by adding the 1967 Barolo after the second fermentation process otherwise known as expedition liqueur (in wine snob terms). What was my thoughts on it you ask? Well it is great as an aperitif, quite crisp and refreshing.

1999 Serralunga D'Alba Barolo DOCG Riserva

The other wines that were on the list that I tasted were the 2012 Silver label/Classico Barolo, 2015 Ebbio Langhe Nebbiolo and the 1999 Serralunga D'Alba Barolo DOCG Riserva. These were good wines but not my favorite out of the lot. Although the 1999 Serralunga had a very interesting label and I learnt that it was a limited edition bottle, in that it featured a label designed by a local Piedmont artist.

2012 Serralunga D'alba Barolo

So back to the ones I thought were delicious. The 2010 Vigna La Rosa Barolo was absolutely amazeballs. This is quite a soft wine with a hint of fruit and spice to it. The one that I did get my hands on and brought home with me was the 2012 Serralunga D'alba Barolo (not as expensive as Vigna La Rosa). Made from Nebbiolo grapes, it has a garnet red color with overtones of Vanilla, spices and rose. It is a dry, but soft, full bodied velvety wine. I'm saving this one for christmas, my sister will be visiting me and cannot wait to enjoy this with her. The Barolo Fontanafredda  Proprietà in Fontanafredda was exceptional too, with an intense red color it is a thick wine with an aftertaste of red fruit.

Barolo Fontanafredda  Proprieta in Fontanafredda

I normally gravitate towards red wines more than I do white, so this was a great wine experience for me, after which I had to drink coffee, have some gelato and get myself lots of water before my long drive back home.
I would recommend trying Barolo if you are looking for something different from what you are used to and have never heard of it, considering you do not mind the price, or if you are like me and want it for a special occasion/meal. I would also like to add that when I did taste these lovely Barolos, we were served cheeses from the piedmont region also at Eataly which really made the experience even more enjoyable.