Wine Advisor
Azelia, Barolo 2016
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: James Suckling
This is an ultra fine Barolo with cherries, spice, cedar and hints of dried flowers on the nose and palate. It’s full-bodied, yet reserved, very caressing and fine-grained. A thoroughly beautiful young 2016. Drink or hold.
Reviewed by: Monica Larner
Azelia's classic 2016 Barolo shows a spicy or savory personality with accents of laurel leaf, eucalyptus and clove. Those are some of the high notes that hover over a core of dark fruit and dried blackberry. On the Nebbiolo scale, this wine takes us to a sultry side of the variety, with slightly more fruit weight, texture and pronounced black fruit. If you are choosing your Barolo according to a possible pasta or meat pairing, this would be the meat wine. Azelia's classico Barolo is a blend of fruit from seven single vineyards, with 30% of the total from Castiglione Falletto and 70% from Serralunga d'Alba. A big portion comes from the Cerretta and Broglio sites, with 50-year-old vines. About 29,000 examples were produced.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
Azelia's 2016 Barolo is a blend of fruit from two parcels in Castiglione Falletto and five in Serralunga, with the character of Serralunga especially felt in the wine's tannic grip and persistence. Iron, sage, mint, smoke and wild cherry give the Barolo striking aromatic nuance and complexity, all in the mid-weight style that is such a signature at this address. The purity of the fruit is just striking. Stated simply, this is a tremendous wine in its peer group.
About the Producer
Azelia, located in the Piedmonte wine region of Italy, is a well-known family-run winery in the region. The vineyards of the Aizeli winery cover a total of 16 hectares, mainly in the Castiglione Falletto and Serralunga d'Alba areas. The main grape varieties planted in the vineyards are Nebbiolo, followed by Dolcetto and Barbera. A lot of effort is put into the management of the vineyards at Château d'Ezzeli. In order to reduce the yield of the grapes and increase their ripeness and flavour concentration, the winery conducts at least two green harvests a year. At the height of summer, all the bunches of old vines are rigorously inspected one by one and overgrown branches are pruned off by hand. In addition, the winery is committed to a sustainable approach and refuses to use any chemical fertilisers, while natural fertilisers are only used at 3-4 year intervals. In order to control the vines, weeds are kept in between the rows of vines. In terms of winemaking, Château d'Ezzelie aims to produce quality and balanced wines, using a combination of traditional and modern winemaking techniques and technologies, with strict control over every stage of the production process. The fermentation process is carried out with wild yeasts and the wines are matured in different types of barrels in order to express the character of each wine. After maturation, the wines are not clarified or filtered in any way. At present, Château d'Ezzeli produces eight red wines, including five Barolo wines. The annual production of the wines is 80,000 bottles.
