Azelia Barolo Margheria 2016 750ml

Here is a wonderfully executed Barolo to applaud. The Azelia 2016 Barolo Margheria offers that classic twofold punch of power and elegance that is so nicely highlighted in wines from Serralunga d’Alba. For sure, the textural fiber of this wine is richer, denser and tighter than the others, and there is an attractive point of inner black fruit energy and tension that I did not find to the same extent in the Cerretta. If that wine is more focused on the base tones, this wine hits those high tones with better precision. The Margheria vines are 60 years old on average and planted in clayey and calcareous soils that render minerality to the wine. Some 6,100 bottles were rolled out.

• 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.