Pio Cesare Barolo Ornato 2015
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The very first Single Vineyard Barolo produced by the Pio Family, for the first time in 1985. Great structure, power, concentration, with a very long life. Produced in small quantities.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
The aromas are so complex yet subtle wtih wet earth, mushrooms and dark fruits. Dried flowers as well. Full body, chewy tannins that are ultra-fine and powerful, yet there is a finesse and beauty to them as I said from barrel. Classic, great nebbiolo. Try in 2023.
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The Somm Journal
Meanwhile, hails from the family’s Ornato estate in Serralunga d’Alba. It was fermented in stainless steel with skin contact for 15 days and aged in French oak for 36 months (70% in new barrels and 30% in 660-gallon casks). Situated at an elevation of over 1,450 feet, the vineyard is steep, with great drainage and soils of white limestone and clay. The wine is intense and elegant, with perfumed, ripe fruit and flavors of salted strawberry influenced by tarry tobacco and rosebud.
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Wine Enthusiast
Balsamic aromas of eucalyptus mingle with enticing scents of wild berry, rose, espresso and tobacco. On the full-bodied, elegant palate, smooth, fine-grained tannins lithely support Marasca cherry, cranberry, star anise and exotic spice while fresh acidity keeps it balanced. One of the best showings I’ve had of Ornato so far. Drink 2021–2030.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Gorgeous all the way, the 2015 Barolo Ornato is flawlessly balanced and elegant, with medium to full-bodied aromas and flavors of caramelized cherries, toasted spices, dried flowers, and licorice. As with many 2015s, it has lots of upfront appeal with its sweet Nebbiolo fruit, but this has the depth, balance, and length to evolve for 20-25 years or more. It’s beautifully done and well worth seeking out.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
With powerful fruit from Serralunga d'Alba, the 2015 Barolo Ornato is a plush and dense red wine with a contemporary feel that prizes richness and overall accessibility. There is a level of softness here that permeates the entire wine and adds to the already-intense aromas of red fruit, blackberry, spice, tar, asphalt and candied orange peel. This structured Barolo is best tasted with a platter of Alpine cheeses and jellied honey.
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Wine Spectator
Piercing scents of cherry, currant, eucalyptus and licorice signal this tightly wound red. Fluid, with a supple texture that dissolves into a matrix of dense tannins. The ample sweet fruit lingers nicely. Best from 2022 through 2040.
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Wine & Spirits
Scents of rose and white smoke lead into vibrant kirsch-like flavors. Mouthwatering acidity fills in around the fruit flavors as notes of dark chocolate, toasted nuts and scorched earth emerge to give a dark, savory tone to the finish. §
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Pio Cesare has been producing wine for more than 100 years and through generations. The tradition began in 1881, when Pio Cesare started gathering grapes in his vineyards and purchasing those of some selected and reliable farmers in the hills of Barolo and Barbaresco districts.
At Pio Cesare, there has always been a conviction that great wine can come only from the finest grapes and the winery's output has always been limited through adherence to the highest standards. Pio Cesare limits its production by using only the most mature and healthy grapes. The ripening of the grapes is carefully monitored and the harvest is rigidly controlled with each grape selected by hand.
Today, the estate is managed by Pio Boffa, great-grandson of Pio Cesare. Under his stewardship, the wines of Pio Cesare have become famous throughout the world. Great strides have been made in quality, and single vineyard offerings have dazzled the wine press.
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.
The center of the production of the world’s most exclusive and age-worthy red wines made from Nebbiolo, the Barolo wine region includes five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village itself, as well as a few outlying villages. The landscape of Barolo, characterized by prominent and castle-topped hills, is full of history and romance centered on the Nebbiolo grape. Its wines, with the signature “tar and roses” aromas, have a deceptively light garnet color but full presence on the palate and plenty of tannins and acidity. In a well-made Barolo wine, one can expect to find complexity and good evolution with notes of, for example, strawberry, cherry, plum, leather, truffle, anise, fresh and dried herbs, tobacco and violets.
There are two predominant soil types here, which distinguish Barolo from the lesser surrounding areas. Compact and fertile Tortonian sandy marls define the vineyards farthest west and at higher elevations. Typically the Barolo wines coming from this side, from La Morra and Barolo, can be approachable relatively early on in their evolution and represent the “feminine” side of Barolo, often closer in style to Barbaresco with elegant perfume and fresh fruit.
On the eastern side of the Barolo wine region, Helvetian soils of compressed sandstone and chalks are less fertile, producing wines with intense body, power and structured tannins. This more “masculine” style comes from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The township of Castiglione Falletto covers a spine with both soil types.
The best Barolo wines need 10-15 years before they are ready to drink, and can further age for several decades.