1997 Oddero Vigna Rionda Barolo

100% Nebbiolo

Vineyard Location: Serralunga d’Alba

Plot 8, Sub-plots 335, 75/c

Characteristics: 300 meters above sea level, southern exposure, 2.60 x 0.80 meters spacing, 4,500 vines/hectare density, Guyot upward-trained vertical-trellised training system.

Age: 50 years

Size: 1 hectare

Yield: 60 quintals/hectare

Harvesting period: Mid-October

Production: 3,000 bottles maximum. A lot depending on the climatic conditions of the vintage.

Vinification: Great care taken over the cultivation of the vineyard, rigorous manual selection of grapes in the vineyard and in the winery, destemming-crushing, fermentation and maceration in stainless steel for around 30 days at a controlled temperature of 28-29°C. Malolactic fermentation follows in December.

Maturing: 100% in 30-hectoliter Austrian oak barrels for 42 months. Bottling takes place at the end of the summer, with a further 18 months of bottle ageing before release on the market. Starting from vintage 2004 Barolo Vigna Rionda will have a total period of refinement of 5 years.

Sensory characteristics: Ruby-red color with garnet tinges, bouquet has echoes of tobacco, forest floor, tea leaves and liquorice, with pleasant hints of cassis. Powerful and decisive tannins, splendidly mellowed, mouth-filling and persistent on the palate.

Notes: The name Vigna Rionda, meaning “round vineyard”, comes from the plot of land, a depression filled with rows of vines, with the whole slope in full sun. Bought by the Oddero family in 1985, the Vigna Rionda, like all the land around Serralunga, Castiglione Falletto and Monforte, is part of an unusual tertiary Langhian-Miocene geological formation, rich in calcareous deposits, marl, fine sand and sandstone, alternating with mineral residues from plant and animal organisms. Additionally the Vigna Rionda is sheltered by the Castelletto hill from northeast winds and the winter cold, and it has an excellent microclimate for vine cultivation. The prizewinning Oddero Barolo Vigna Rionda is a great, tenacious wine with a long life, with an intense, spiced bouquet, structured and complex on tasting, and very exciting.