First, thank you… The recent posts on intro to barolo and traditional vs modern producers have been really helpful. Piggybacking on those posts…
Beyond the ripe/ new oak/modern vs traditional, I’ve found that the flavors can also be very floral to funky. I’ve also noticed the wines from the same producer can change over the vintages, possibly due to changes in styles or winemaking over time.
I’m looking for recommendations on barolo producers (and specific vineyard designations, if any) that reliably produce very floral wines with maybe secondary leather/tobacco flavors year after year. I’m not a huge fan of the funky mushroom, truffle, iron and balsamic notes that they can produce. I’m probably an outlier, but I’ve appreciate wines from both traditional (e.g. Lorenzo accomasso) and modern producers (e.g. manzoni or parusso) as long as it’s balanced and has the bright floral/roses flavors with maybe tar and leather aspects I enjoy. While I would love to try Bartolo Mascarello and Conterno one day, ideally I’d like to keep it under $100 a bottle if possible.
My cellar and I thank you bersekers as always for your help and wisdom.
Some thoughts from someone who more or less the same experience as you (ie I don’t drink it as often as other types of wine, but only occasionally):
luckily the wines change from year to year: a lot has to do with the vintage;
what is “floral” for one person, isn’t necessarily “floral” for another person;
to me, the really typical “floral” barolo is monvigliero from Burlotto - if you put it in a flight of burgundy blind, you do sense that it is different, but floral character (to me = red fruit) stands out - but again, that’s for my palate;
with a bit of age, I do feel floral character comes forward - eg this weekend, I tried a Brovia Barolo 2012. Definitely going in “floral” direction.
There is a specific nebbiolo grape (sub-variety?) which is meant to give more floral wines.
I can’t remember the exact grape name but recall Ian d’Agata talking about it being mostly removed from the vineyards, but historically being more prevalent - IIRC the grape was Nebbiolo Rosé and some producers still had vineyards with a high percentage of it, plus one wine where it was the lead grape (vigna Elena?). Hopefully someone can fil, in the blanks!
This is my own experience too. By “floral” I usually think of bright red, juicy/tart, fruit, which often comes with a rose petal aspect (along with a cherry, cranberry and/or pomegranate fruits). Without needing to age the wine, I typically find this in the better “basic” Barolos of good producers that aren’t aiming for a huge, age-worthy wine. For example, for a very reasonable price, I often get this from Fontanafredda’s base level Barolo (Serralunga), on the lower end, and even from Aldo Conterno’s base-level Barolo (Bussia), on the higher end (despite the latter’s reputation for modern-style wine, I find that the oak in this one adds spice without detracting from the red fruit).
There is a school of thought that the two major soil types of Barolo lead to a general split along the lines of “lighter floral” (tortonian soil, northwest side of Barolo region) and “denser powerful” (serravalian soil, southeast side of Barolo region).
I don’t know if there is widespread agreement on this, but I have found it to be useful. Vajra is my go-to on the floral side. The 2012 Bricco de Viole is available at retail and drinking nicely now.
As I recall, Ian d’Agata discusses this at length in his ridiculously detailed interview with Levi Dalton on the Ill Drink to That podcast.
The Monvigliero vineyard was the first thing that came to mind. Burlotto’s version reminds me of a Chambolle-Musigny, with strawberry scents and something floral. It’s become very expensive, though. Fratelli Alessandria’s Monvigliero has many of those same qualities at a more reasonable price. The Monvigliero vineyard lies in Verduno, at the far northwest corner of the appellation, very near the Tanaro River, which cools it at night, so it is unique. Burlotto’s is sui generis, since they press the grapes by foot and leave the juice on the skins for 60 days. Counterintuitively, that produces a very feminine wine.
Nori – In general, I’d suggest looking at the wines from La Morra and Verduno, which tend to be more feminine/elegant. I think you might find what you’re after in (Poderi e Cantine) Oddero’s base bottling, which is a blend, mostly from La Morra vineyards. Marcarini’s Brunate and La Serra also tend toward the feminine, though I don’t think of them as being so floral.
I think it’s pretty hard to discern anything floral in wines made with barriques. Even when oak is used in moderation, it tends to mask the more subtle scents from the grapes.
It’s interesting that you find rose petals. To me, rose hips are very characteristic of nebbiolo. The scents may be related, as often happens with different parts of the same plant.
This is borne out when you taste the wines of the different communes from the same producer side by side. Most of Monforte’s vineyards and those in Serralunga yield denser, more tannic, masculine wines than you get in La Morra and Verduno. Barolo and Castiglione lie somewhere in the middle, stylewise.
I first experienced the difference firsthand tasting through the full line-up at Vietti in 2002. Their vineyards are spread across the DOCG zone, from Novello in the southwest (Ravera), to their home commune of Castiglione in the center (Rocche, Villero) and to Serralunga at the southwest edge (Lazzarito). You can also see it in Brovia, which has vineyards in Castiglione (Garblet Sue/Fiasco) and Serralunga (Ca Mia/Brea). The difference is quite dramatic at Frat. Alessandria, comparing its Monvigliero (Verduno) and Gramalore (Serralunga).
I, too, love the Vajra Bricco de Viole. It’s within the Barolo commune, but it’s at quite a high elevation at the western fringe of the commune, some distance from (and many meters above) the prime Barolo plots like Cannubi and Brunate, so it’s character is rather unique.
Thank you for the responses so far. I agree that the tannins and structure can often bury the fruit when young, and the underlying fruit comes out with age. Unfortunately, my local vendors don’t have a huge selection of nebbiolo for tastings. Given the vintage variability from the same producer, I find it’s really hit or miss to cellar these wines in hopes the wines turn towards to red fruit and floral spectrum over time.
Maybe my limited sampling, but I’ve found many of the barbarescos to be fairly dark, ripe, and modern in style. They’re often really dark in color (as opposed to the translucent red or light brown of barolo) and, even after some age, almost a plummy degree of ripeness. I’m sure they’re are barbarescos that are lighter and more elegant style. The board is smarter than my ability to throw money at random bottles of wine, so help is greatly appreciated
Alessandria’s Gramolere also shows the high-toned floral character (despite being from Monforte), and some of Burlotto’s Monvigliero goes into his Acclivi which, while not cheap, isn’t as hyped as the former. Castello di Verduno’s wines show it in better years too.
I find some Castiglione wines show a strong floral signature as well - Vietti’s Rocche, Cavallotto’s Bricco Boschis (whereas the Vignolo has a much darker fruit character), and Roagna’s Pira. Ettore Germano’s 2015 Prapo has a gorgeous floral note and remarkably fine-boned structure for a Serralunga from a hot vintage. Two other floral red-fruited Serralunga wines are Cappellano’s Gabutti and Conterno’s Arione (although both are well north of $100).
On the subject of geology - Alessandro Masnaghetti will be releasing a “Geo-Viticultural Map of the Crus” sometime soon. I got a pre-release copy and it shows the distribution of soils is somewhat more varied than the Tortonian/Serravalian split. This gives some sense of it without the granular detail of Masnaghetti’s work: Wine -- Mise en abyme: Soils of the Barolo Zone
I think that’s limiting. Frat. Alessandria is making excellent wines in Verduno, including from Monvigliero. I have less experience with Castello di Verduno, but I gather the quality there is also high.
If I remember correctly, I think Ian D’agata’s Native Wine grapes of Italy says the Vigna Elena is the only 100% Nebbiolo Rose clone still made. Honestly I’ve tried a bottle, and I didn’t notice a substantial difference in style compared to the standard Nebbiolo clones on the market.
Paolo Scavino Bricco Ambroggio. I had the 2004 at the winery in 2017 and it was shockingly floral. Perhaps the most floral barolo I have ever had. I came home and bought a case of the 2010. A bit less floral but still delicious. It is apparently a very small cold microclimate that brings out the flowers.
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