I’m curious… Why would there be greater diurnal swings at 400-480 meters elevation? Since cold air settles to the lowest point and valleys tend to warm up and retain heat more than higher elevations, is there something unique about the geography that refutes these generalizations?
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Slopes create winds is how it is best explained. The higher the elevation and steeper the slope, the bigger the diurnal temp changes. Check wiki: Diurnal air temperature variation - Wikipedia
Thanks for the link Troy but that just defines what diurnal air temperature variation is. All the vineyards I’ve worked with in Sonoma on hillsides of elevation 365-470 m have significantly less diurnal swings than valley floor vineyards. For example, last week we had 3 days in a row of sub-freezing mornings in Santa Rosa. But Radiant Ridge Vineyard at about 400 meters on the outskirts of Santa Rosa had none. Just trying to understand why it’s different in Barolo.
Sure, low lying areas may get colder, especially overnight and in the morning, but they don’t warm up as much as the higher elevations (heat rises), thus a bigger swing up top. The effect can be even more pronounced if the slope faces east/south, as it will get more direct heat/energy from the sun than the valley floors.
ETA: Also, especially in Piedmont, FOG. Fog lets the tops of the hills warm up more during the early morning hours.
I haven’t had many 2019s but tasted a bunch of 2018s upon release when I visited in 2022. All were really approachable as echoed. I enjoyed them. Oddero’s 18 Normale stood out as well as Cavallotto and Paolo Scavino’s Ravera and Bricco Ambroggio. Haven’t re-visited many 18’s in the last year however.
Thanks for the notes, always fun seeing comparison tastings.
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Thanks Troy but unfortunately I still don’t get it. Lower elevations actually get warmer than higher elevations. That’s because air warms as it descends and becomes more dense (one of the reasons why Death Valley gets so hot). As air rises it becomes less dense and cools. I forget the exact numbers but I recall reading once that you can expect about 4 degrees F cooling for every 1000’ elevation gain. So if a vineyard is at 1500’ elevation in Barolo and/or above the fog line and doesn’t get as cold at night and it doesn’t warm up as much during the day because it’s higher altitude, then I would think the higher you go, the less diurnal swing. I’ll try to do some research on this to see why the opposite is true in Barolo.
By the way, love the Vajra and Baudana wines. 2016s were epic!
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Not sure what to say other than it’s well documented that higher elevation vineyards (at least in Piedmont, but I think other places too) have larger diurnal swings. Pretty sure it’s the fog but what do I know?
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