Barolo Tour - Azelia
English version
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Castiglione Falletto is, as you know, one of the 11 small towns in the Barolo area which are permitted to produce Barolo.
This afternoon Vinhulen.dk were going to visit Azelia for the first time ever. Azelia is a rising star on the Barolo sky and nextdoor neighbor to Paolo Scavino and Brovia.
In general Azelia has found the path to fame through high ratings in the past 8-10 years from American wine critics.
This afternoon we were going to see if the word was trueÂ….
Not that we havenÂ’t been drinking wine from Azelia before, but most of the vintages tested are older vintages.
Azelia is a really nice place, and you park your car right in front of the vinery in a small yard with lots of trees facing the road outside and to the right of the entrance - almost like a private property – and it is – combined vinery and home for the family.
That isn’t special in the Barolo area. Most properties combines vinery and family home – called Azienda Agricola.
The close neighborship to Paolo Scavino is not random. The owner of Azelia is Luigi Scavino – a cousin to Enrico Scavino. They share the hill Fiasco.
At Azelia the Barolo is called Barolo Bricco Fiasco. At Paolo Scavino the Barolo is called Barolo Bric del Fiasc.
The name “Fiasco” has reference to the Fiasco shaped vineyard (Fiasco is the old Italian bottle shape).
Somewhat Azelia’s fame is closely connected to American wine critics such as Parker and Suckling. They put Azelia on the map during the 00’es for Azelia’s effort to produce Barolo with power and elegance – not to forget Azelia’s modern style Barolo aged in barrique.
But as you will read later on Azelia is more than capable of holding it’s own – even when a group of Europeans taste the variety of Azelia’s range of wines.Compared to older vintages it is crystal clear that Azelia has gone from status as good to ex-cellent producer during the last 10 years or so.
The history of Azelia is nearly a hundred years old.
In 1920 Cavalier Lorenzo Scavino began to vinify part of the grapes produced in the family's vineyards - a small rural reality in the heart of the Langhe region, in Castiglione Fallet-to.
The son of Lorenzo – Alfonzo – started to bottle the wine, but it was Luigi’s father – also called Lorenzo - who made the wine ready for export.
At present time Luigi Scavino runs the family business with help from his wife Lorella and his son Lorenzo. Lorenzo is named after his grandfather and he is the fifth generation.
This afternoon we teamed up with Lorenzo for a tour round the vinery and a nice wine tasting afterward.
Azelia wine is produced from old vines from 16 hectares of vineyards. The Azelia family does green harvest to make sure that only a few and the best grapes survive and are used for the Barolo’sHere is the secret to the concentrated Barolo’s from Azelia. Old vines and green harvest – on-ly the best grapes for the wine – and highly concentrated softened by small casks (barrique) to make the wine smoother and round.
This afternoon we were going to taste the following wine:
Dolcetto dÂ’Alba Bricco dellÂ’Oriolo 2011
Langhe Nebbiolo 2011
Barolo 2008
Barolo Margheria 2008
Barolo San Rocco 2008
Barolo San Rocco 1999
Barolo Bricco Fiasco 1999
We very much appreciate the opportunity to taste two 1999 vintages of Barolo from San Rocco and Bricco Fiasco.
ItÂ’s not often producers have old vintages on stock or wants to serve them for visitors on a normal weekday, but in this case we were lucky.
The Dolcetto d'Alba Bricco dell'Oriolo is produced from in the amount of 15.600 bottles a year. The grapes come from 45 year old vines. 100% Dolcetto.
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Langhe Nebbiolo is produced in the amount of 10.200 bottles a year. The grapes come from 20 year old wines. 100% Nebbiolo.
The Barolo is produced in the amount of 26.400 bottles a year. The grapes come from 45 year old vines. 100% Nebbiolo. Spends 24 months in large casks.
Barolo Margheria is produced in the amount ofr 8.100 bottles a year. The grapes come from 50 year old vines. 100% Nebbiolo. Spends 28 months in large casks.
Barolo San Rocco is produced in the amount of 6.400 bottles a year. The grapes come from 55 year old vines. 100% Nebbiolo. Spends 24 months in barrique.
Barolo Bricco Fiasco is produced in the amount of 6.800 bottles a year. The grapes come from 65 year old vines. 100% Nebbiolo. Spends 24 months in barrique.
The grapes for Barolo are grown in vineyards in both Serralunga d'Alba and Castiglione Falletto.
As you can see in the picture to the left not only wine is interesting for Vinhulen.dk.
The Scavino family has a very old watch in the tasting room. Quite nice to have the opportunity to study something else than wine from time to time :-)
Lorenzo must have been quite surpriced seeing us being so nerdy about an old clock when there was wine on the table - but he didn't show :-)
As you see above, we were going to taste a lot of wine this afternoon:
If you want to see our review of a particulary wine or more, just click on the wine, and you'll be forwarded to our wine database with over 5.300 Italian wine reviews:
Dolcetto dÂ’Alba Bricco dellÂ’Oriolo 2011, Azelia
Langhe Nebbiolo 2011, Azelia
Barolo 2008, Azelia
Barolo Margheria 2008, Azelia
Barolo San Rocco 2008, Azelia
Barolo San Rocco 1999 , Azelia
Barolo Bricco Fiasco 1999, Azelia
Barolo Bricco Fiasco 2008 was already sold out.
After a couple of hours in the kind hands of the Lorenzo - and ofcourse all the wine - it was time to move on to new visits.
If you ever come to the small town of Castiglione Falletto, don't forget to visit Azelia. Just remember to write them first and get an appointment.
You can visit the website of Azelia at this adress: Azelia
The wine from Azelia is imported in Denmark by Gerbola Vin.
You can find the wine here: Gerbola Vin
Until next time....
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