Giovanni Canonica Barolo Paiagallo 2016 750ml

The 2016 Barolo Paiagallo offers a bit more depth than the Grinzane Cavour Barolo, but it, too, is pretty laid back in style. Sweet red cherry and plum fruit flavors are quite primary. Time in the glass brings out hints of spice, dried rose petal, mint and orange peel. It will be interesting to see if the 2016 gains body with time in bottle. Today it is on the lighter side. Here, too, the 15.5% alcohol is not especially evident.

• Country: Italy
• Region: Piedmont
• Appellation: Barolo
• Size: 750ml
• Color: Red

Varietal

Nebbiolo

The Nebbiolo grape varietal is widely understood to be the fruit responsible for Italy’s finest aged wines. However, its popularity and reliability as a grape which gives out outstanding flavors and aromas has led it to be planted in many countries around the world, with much success. These purple grapes are distinguishable by the fact that they take on a milky dust as they begin to reach maturity, leading many to claim that this is the reason for their unusual name, which means ‘fog’ in Italian. Nebbiolo grapes produce wines which have a wide range of beautiful and fascinating flavors, the most common of which are rich, dark and complex, such as violet, truffle, tobacco and prunes. They are generally aged for many years to balance out their characteristics, as their natural tannin levels tend to be very high.