Innovations
In the last few years, Marchesi di Barolo has implemented many innovations to achieve the highest level of winemaking excellence.
In the vineyard, increasing attention is being focused on sustainability: all chemical weeding treatments have been eliminated; plant protection products with a low environmental and health impact are being used; integrated pest management, consociated agriculture, and green manure are being carried out.
In the winery, new techniques have been adopted for cooling the grapes, along with new equipment for delicate wine processing. All animal-derived adjuvants have been eliminated, and new technologies for cleaning and sanitizing wooden barrels have been introduced.
2020 Vintage
Regarding the vintage, 2020 began with an ideal climate trend, and the harvest proved to be surprising. The first part of spring was relatively dry and sunny, with the months of March and April marked by good weather and mild temperatures, ensuring homogeneous vegetative growth. However, the end of spring was characterised by frequent rains, which ensured excellent water accumulation in the soil.
The early snowfalls in the Alps at the beginning of September played an important role, triggering significant temperature variations between day and night. This led to perfect phenolic ripening of the grapes, as well as an optimal degree of healthiness.
100% Nebbiolo
Made exclusively from 100% Nebbiolo grapes, Barolo Cannubi 2020 originates from an exceptional geological anomaly that defies the context of the Tortonian era. Located on a southeastern slope, Cannubi astonishes with unique soils from the Serravallian and Tortonian eras. The resulting blue-gray marls, rich in magnesium carbonate and manganese, take on a light gray hue when exposed to air. Technically known as St. Agatha Fossil Marls, or Toû, they ideally consist of 20% sand, 30% clay, and 50% silt, creating a texture saturated with a robust limestone component (circa 10%)—a balanced and harmonious synthesis of the soils of the Barolo area.
Harvest and Fermentation
The hand-harvested grapes undergo a meticulous process: destemming, gentle pressing, and 10-day temperature-controlled fermentation with continuous pumping over. This method extracts distinctive aromas and color from the skins. Racking takes place after the complete fermentation of natural sugars into alcohol. The wine then rests in concrete tanks, allowing spontaneous malolactic fermentation to naturally conclude after two months. Then, the most important period in the life of Barolo begins: aging in wood.
Aging in wood takes about two years. During the first year, the wine matures in small 225-liter French oak barrels (barriques). Here, thanks to the very high level of micro-oxygenation, polyphenolic substances (color and tannins) are stabilized, emphasizing the wine’s organoleptic characteristics.
In the second year, the aging process continues in large Slavonian oak barrels. Due to a more delicate wood effect, this allows for the harmonization of all the final organoleptic characteristics of the wine.
