Azelia Barolo Bricco Fiasco 2016
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The white calcareous soil gives the wine an elegant profile with sweet and silky tannins. The aromatic character loaded with flowers and fruits is charmingly intense. The average age of the vines is 85 years old. The Bricco Fiasco spends 24 months in oak.
Bricco Fiasco represents the historical Cru of the estate.
Here the vines were replanted in the 1940s by Luigi’s father, Lorenzo. Today, the same vines, now 85 years old, produce small, concentrated bunches and their ripening is impeccable.
In 1978, thanks to the unique position and perfect ripening of the berries, Luigi and his father decided to vinify separately, for the first time, the grapes obtained from this vineyard. They absolutely wanted that this vineyard be recognized in bottle and that a label, a wine be dedicated to this vineyard.Barolo Bricco Fiasco was one of the first Barolos to identify a Cru, a single vineyard.
The name Fiasco comes from the shape of the hill where the vineyard is located: it has a rounded shape such as a flask, the old bottle used in the past to contain red wine. On top of this hill, the bricco, there is still today an old well, built by hand by great grandfather Alfonso, with an over hundred year old vine pruned to a pergola (trellised vine), useful as a shade shelter during the hot summer afternoons. As the bricco is extremely steep, farmers collected rain water in the well.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Of the four single-vineyard wines presented by Azelia, this is the only one that draws its fruit from Castiglione Falletto. The other three see fruit from Serralunga d'Alba. It makes sense then that the 2016 Barolo Bricco Fiasco marches to the beat of its own drum when compared to its siblings in this portfolio. This wine is set apart by the precision of its aromas and not by the overt power that you get in Serralunga d'Alba. Instead, you get linear and direct aromas of wild cherry, dried blueberry, smoke, licorice and crushed limestone. This Bricco Fiasco is beautifully assembled, elegant and laser-focused. Luigi Scavino's grandfather planted this vineyard in the 1940s, and the average age of the plants is 85 years old today. The site has more sand in its soils compared to Serralunga d'Alba, and this explains the bright fruity and sometimes floral characteristics of the wine.
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James Suckling
Fresh flowers with strawberries and cedar throughout this. It’s medium-to full-bodied with a very compact palate of tannins that melt into the wine with freshness and brightness. Linear and deep. Drink in 2023 and onwards.
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Wine Spectator
Scented aromas of rose, cherry, strawberry and currant are the hallmarks of this elegant Barolo, which is grounded by underlying hints of tar and iron, while the lively structure shows fine integration. Long and resonant on the finish. Best from 2022 through 2042.
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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 Falletto.
His son Alfonso started enthusiastically to bottle the wine produced and thanks to Luigi's father, Lorenzo, with perseverance and willpower, the wines were for the first time exported.
The Azienda Agricola Azelia, in the centre of the area of Barolo production, is nowadays composed of 16 hectares and it produces, on average, 80,000 bottles per year. Luigi is supported by his wife Lorella and his son Lorenzo, who bears the name of his grandfather and who represents the fifth generation of wine producers. The family management is essential as it permits an extreme precision in every step of the production.
Great care is given to the work in the vineyards. Wine is made there from old vines which produce very few grapes. The low yields are further reduced through the green harvest, indispensable to select fruits, to have a uniform ripening and an impeccable quality.
It is fundamental a scrupulous attention in the cellar where the respect for the tradition does not exclude the contribution of modern techniques.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
