Roagna Barolo Rocche di Castiglione 2020
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The Land
Castiglione Falletto gets called the middle ground of Barolo, structure from the Serralunga side, perfume from the Barolo side. Rocche di Castiglione complicates that. The cru runs along a steep, sand-heavy escarpment on the eastern edge of the commune, and its wines are the most aromatic in the commune rather than the most muscular. Roagna's parcel is tiny, 0.48 hectares sitting high on the slope in the historic heart of the cru, at 300 meters with southerly exposure. The soil is calcareous clay shot through with white rock and sand, and the sand lifts the aromatics and keeps the tannins fine-grained instead of blocky. The family bought this piece in 2016.
The Wine
Nebbiolo from Barolo, entirely from vines planted in the early 1970s from the estate's own massal selections. Fermentation runs about ten days in large wooden vats on a pied de cuve of indigenous yeasts. Then comes the technique Roagna is known for: submerged-cap maceration, the skins held under the wine by a wooden grate, for 60 to 75 days. That method extracts slowly and gently, pulling structure and aromatic depth without the harsh phenolics that aggressive pumpovers produce. The wine then spends roughly five years in large neutral casks and concrete before bottling, unfined and unfiltered. 2020 was a warm season, with heat accumulation close to 2003 and 2017, but the summer never spiked and the water table held, so the tannins ripened rather than cooked. Spring rain brought downy mildew pressure that required strict selection, and 90 to 100 millimeters of rain fell across Barolo on October 2 and 3. Dark cherry, spiced plum, licorice, dried rose and blood orange, with a long, mineral, tar-edged finish.
The People
Roagna has been in Barbaresco since the early twentieth century, when Vincenzo Roagna started the estate. Luca Roagna is the fifth generation. His grandfather and father bought the Pira property in Castiglione Falletto in 1989, when almost nobody outside the commune wanted land there, and Luca added the Rocche di Castiglione parcel in 2016. The family employs no outside oenologist and no consulting agronomist, which in modern Piedmont is unusual to the point of being a statement. The wines are made the way they were made in the 1960s, which through the 1990s made Roagna look stubborn and now makes them look prescient.
Food Pairing
A Barolo with this much tannin and this much time in it wants fat and salt. Brasato al Barolo, beef chuck braised four hours with carrot, celery and a bottle of Nebbiolo, is the regional answer and the right one. Tajarin tossed in butter with shaved white truffle meets the wine's dried-rose and tar aromatics head on. A veal chop seared hard and finished with rosemary and a spoonful of pan juices gives the tannin protein to grab. And a hunk of aged Castelmagno at the end, its salt and crumble cutting straight through the structure. Open it three hours ahead, or lay it down until 2030 and forget about it.
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Piedmont, framed by the Alps in northwestern Italy, is a land of rolling hills and carefully cultivated vineyards. The continental climate, with its cold winters and warm summers, creates prime conditions for the Nebbiolo grape, which dominates much of the region's red wine production. The Langhe area is home to Barolo and Barbaresco, structured red wines known for their complex aromas, firm tannins, and aging potential. While Nebbiolo is the dominant grape of Piedmont, the region also makes interesting white wines like those from Arneis and Timorasso. Alto Piemonte is a separate region in the north with its own distinctive expressions of Nebbiolo, alongside other red grape varietals.
Italy - Piedmont
Nebbiolo, a prestigious grape from Italy's Piedmont region, is celebrated for its profound truffle and rose aromas, complex flavors, and ability to age gracefully thanks to strong acidity and tannins, producing the renowned Barolo and Barbaresco wines.
