Barolo, Fratelli Serio e Battista Borgogno 2019

The estate is now run by the fourth generation, the daughters of Serio Borgogno, Anna Bolla and Paola Boffa and in turn their daughters, Emanuela Bolla, Federica Boffa, the cousins representing the fifth generation. Emanuela takes the lead on vineyards and winemaking with her father, Marco, while Federica concentrates on promoting the wine. The estate comprises 8 ha of vines, the main part being on the famous hill of Cannubi (of which they own one fifth), just outside of the town of Barolo. Here they have three vineyards – each with a different aspect – picking and fermenting the grapes separately and blending them according to the year. For their Riserva, however, they pick an individual vineyard. They also have a vineyard 20 minutes’ drive to the east, in Diano d’Alba. They grow grass between the rows of vines, use no herbicides and, for other treatments, employ mainly natural products in their bid to produce the healthiest grapes whilst safeguarding the biodiversity of their vineyards. They believe that their job in the cellars is to preserve the different characteristics of each vineyard. The Barolos are fermented in big wooden vats (tini) and matured in large Slavonian oak botti employing none of those untraditional barriques!  Emanuela summarises their philosophy thus, “Wine is the enthusiastic soul of the ones who produce it, the ones who know how to gather and transmit the authenticity of the land from which they come.