Luigi Einaudi 2018 Barolo Terlo Vigna Costa Grimaldi

£49.00
In stock
SKU
ITPIREICG18B
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Vigna Costa Grimaldi is 1.6 hectares within the MGA of Terlo, a beautifully placed site on the ridge above the town of Barolo. We have always been admirers of the wines from this site: it produces wines with class and density, with great capacity to age. The 2018 is very successful: classic structure and perfumes, not the huge concentration of the 2016s, but very stylish indeed.

Origin
Producer
Grape Varieties
Maturity

Drink 2026 - 2038+

Viticulture

Conventional

Size / ABV

Standard Bottle 75cl / 14.5%

This Month's Mixed Cases

The Wine Region

Piedmont

Piedmont

Piedmont is, without fear of contradiction, Italy's most exciting wine region. Home to Barolo and Barbaresco, two of Italy's finest and most long-lived wines, being the ultimate expression of the world's greatest grape variety: Nebbiolo. OK, I might be going a bit far with that one, but it's my favourite. This variety has, perhaps even more so than Pinot Noir, an in-built ability to transmit its terroir into the glass with laser-like precision and clarity. Perhaps this is why there are 170 named, single-vineyards in Barolo alone (what we now call the Menzioni Geografiche Aggiuntive, or MGAs for short). Barolo is, without doubt, worthy of its title, 'The King of Wines, The Wine of Kings'.

The hills of The Langhe, where Barolo and Barbaresco are found, is also home to other wonderful varieties: Dolcetto is a delight when the winemaker can get the balance of tannins correct, Dogliani being the favoured zone; Barbera is juicy and fruitful with many examples reaching lofty heights of quality; Freisa is light but deliciously complex. There are white varieties too: Arneis is making some kind of come back, since it nearly disappeared entirely: Favorita is the local version of Vermentino; and of course, who could forget Moscato?

Elsewhere, the wines which are receiving the most attention, are those of Alto Piemonte: Gattinara, Ghemme, Sizzano, Fara and many other microscopic DOCs where you can often find pure Nebbiolos, or ocassionally mixed up with Vespolina and Uva Rara. These are not the 'poor man's Barolo', these are distinct wines, worthy of merit. There is also the ubiquitous Gavi di Gavi, one of the few Italian whites with a household name.

The Producer

Luigi Einaudi

Poderi Luigi Einaudi

Poderi Luigi Einaudi is arguably the best producer of Dolcetto  in Italy, and their reputation goes back to 1897 when the winery was established by Luigi Einaudi, who later became the 2nd President of the Italian Republic. The winery is based in Dogliani but also has many prestigious vineyards in Barolo and Barbaresco. The estate is now run by Einaudi's great-grandson, Matteo Sardagna who maintains the culture of excellence in the entire range of wines.

The Grape Variety

Nebbiolo

Nebbiolo

Nebbiolo is a black grape variety primarily grown in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. It is considered one of Italy's most important and noble grape varieties and used to produce some of the country's finest and most sought-after wines, including Barolo and Barbaresco, and the now fashionable wines of Alto Piemonte.

Nebbiolo grapes produce wines that are typically full-bodied and high in tannins, with high acidity and complex flavours that often include notes of cherry, violet, liquorice, and truffles. The wines are known for their ability to age well, sometimes for decades, and for their intense aromas and flavours.

Nebbiolo is a sensitive grape variety that requires specific growing conditions to thrive. It prefers sloping vineyards on southeast-southwest exposed sites and well-drained soils, such as those found in the Langhe region. The variety is also grown in smaller quantities in other regions of Italy, as well as in some other countries, notably the USA, Australia, and Argentina. However, Nebbiolo wines produced outside of Piedmont are often quite different in style from their Italian counterparts, rarely with the same degree of nobility.

The Sub-Region

Barolo

Barolo

Barolo is a the home to some of Italy's greatest wines and spiritual homeland of Nebbiolo. The vineyard is roughly 2,000 hectares of rolling hills in the province of Cuneo in Piedmont, in the hills known as The Langhe.

The DOCG (denominazione di origine controllata garantita) covers 11 communes: 5 major ones of Barolo, La Morra, Monforte d'Alba, Serralunga d'Alba and Castiglione Falletto; then 6 minor ones of Novello, Verduno, Grinzane Cavour, Diano d'Alba, Roddi and Cherasco, the latter two only having one vineyard each. These communes are then further fractioned down into 171 single vineyard sites, known locally as Menzioni Geografiche Aggiuntive (MGAs), a rather awkward expression for what we used to call the 'Crus'. Having an MGA associated with the name of the wine is a signal that the wine has elevated quality, and most top Barolos, barring a few exceptions, are produced and named this way.

We normally carry a wide range of wine from here, with a focus on a core of producers. Monchiero is one of our favourites, an ultra-traditional producer who uses long macerations and ages the wines only in large Slavonian oak casks. We have their single vineyard Barolos from Montanello, Roere di Santa Maria and occasionally Rocche di Casteglione. The historic producer Luigi Einaudi has fantastic vineyards in a few of Barolo's communes, we tend to favour their Terlo Vigna Costa Grimaldi from the commune of Barolo, but we are anticipating the release of their debut vintage of Monvigliero from Verduno.

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