Gagliasso Family

Winemaker Luca Gagliasso on the 2002 vintage

We consider the 2002 a difficult vintage, because of a great deal of fruit loss to the cold. But we attempted to produce a fine Barolo with all of the remaining grapes; many producers in the region did not bottle any Barolo at all from 2002. Although challenging, we gave it a lot of care and attention. At the end of barrel aging we found a very good wine, not perhaps for extremely long cellaring like the 2000 or 2001, but wonderfully drinkable, fruity fresh and easy; the color is quite nice for the vintage.

The tannins were not especially ripe, so they are a bit green, but in fine balance with the fruit and a very good acidity. While not a distinguished vintage in the style of the last two, the small producer can give the wine his experience and care; it becomes a mission to produce a good wine. This is a bottle to drink now and in the coming few years - possibly up to 10 or 15 with proper cellaring.

The area: High up in the Northwestern corner of Italy lies the Piedmont wine region. Nestled under the shadow of the Alps, Piedmont means “at the foot of the mountain” in Italian. Celebrated for its hearty red wines and rich culinary tradition, the Piedmont region is home to the prized white truffle. More temperate than Tuscany, the Piedmont region is an endlessly green tapestry of vineyards, villages, farms and forests. Although vineyards are everywhere, most of the wines from this region are produced from family estates on small pieces of land.

Barolo is the king of Piedmont wines and is the most celebrated of all the Italian reds. Traditionally, it is a powerful and complex wine requiring many years of aging, although recently the style has evolved toward wines that can be enjoyed at a younger age. Like its cousin Barbaresco, Barolo is made from the Nebbiolo grape. Nebbia means fog, and Nebbiolo derives its name from both the whitish velvety covering found on the grapes, and the morning fog that blankets the region during harvest time. From a hillside near the town of La Morra, the Gagliasso family produces a wonderful Barolo that is a fusion of old and new world styles.

I am Luca Gagliasso. I am an enologist. I am the son of Mario, the wine producer. Mario Gagliasso started his career at 17 with his father, my grandfather, in the Gagliasso winery. My mother Luciana and my sister, also an enologist, work in the winery as well.

We have one small vineyard in Monteforte where we produce 2,000 bottles of Barolo. The exposure on one side is good for Barbera and Dolcetto, because the sun is right for the maturation of those grapes. We have another exposure for the Nebbiolo, to the west, because the Nebbiolo matures in October, and this exposure is better for the grapes.

Just above Barolo, a little village with the same name of the wine, is La Morra, where we have our other vineyard and our winery, the biggest producer in the village of Barolo at La Morra.

We have a period of rain in April and May with 20 or 30 centimeters of water; the other period of rain is in November and December. The period of nebbia (fog) is October, but is even more concentrated in the month of November. The soil is chalky white, and water runs off without penetrating the soil because it is compact. The roots and vines do not get a lot of water – they prefer the sun, the great exposure, and this soil is good for the vines.

The winery is 70 percent underground, where we have our zone of aging, and the zone of maturation and vinification. We have both large barrels and small barrels. With the Nebbiolo for the Barolo, we age for 20 months in small barrels. 20 or 30 percent is new French oak. We then follow with 4 months in the large barrels. The total is 24 months in oak, and 12 months in the bottle before release.

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