2018 Boasso Barolo 'Margheria'

The Boasso family collection of Serralunga vineyards reads pretty well. All wines come from a series of plots in either Gabutti itself, where home is, and 10 contiguous plots adjoin the Cappellano holdings, from Margheria, where two plots lie immediately below Massolino’s, or from Meriame, Le Turne and Cerrati, which provide some Nebbiolo, but are mostly the source of the brilliant Dolcetto, Barbera and the delicious Moscato. Their portion of Lazzarito, from which Claudio says they will release a Cru in 2020, lies immediately below Vietti’s larger parcel of this famed Cru. Serralunga personality shows in all these wines.

These are tannic; there’s no other way to put it. If you want to show what traditionally made, flawless and totally terroir-driven Serralunga looks, smells and feels like, these are it. They do take a bit of air to crack open, but the rewards are probably exactly what you imagine of the ideal Serralunga. Graphite, smoke, maybe some darker cherry, porcini, liquorice and pepper. Black tea tannins and up-acidity see the wines out. All varieties (well the reds anyway) are Serralunga first.

Experimentation, with shorter ferments and smaller wood, didn’t last long here. Things are essentially ‘enlightened traditional’. After 10-15 days in steel to ferment, and another 10 on submerged cap, the Margheria see 36 months in 25 hl old wood.

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Region - Barolo DOCG
Comune - Serralunga d’Alba
MGA/Vineyard /Cru- Margheria
Variety - Nebbiolo