Barolo Baudana

Italy
Piedmont
2020

The cru of Baudana can seem undersung compared to more famous sites, but in the recent past it was not so. “This vineyard has contributed to creating excellent signature wines since the 1930s and has always been held in high esteem by the locals”--Atlante delle Vigne di Langa, Slow Food, 1990.  It was also singled out in Renato Ratti's now widely-cited 1970 map of the Barolo zone's best vineyards.  Soils are a combination of the bluish-gray Tortonian-era Sant'Agata Fossili marls and the older whitish-yellow Formazione di Lequio from the Serravallian epoch.  This tends to give a wine with the depth and power one associates with Serralunga, but with a gentler tannin structure, perhaps reminiscent of the wines of Barolo and La Morra. 

The Vairas farm 1.6ha of Baudana, SW-facing at 350m. Vines for the Barolo Baudana are the oldest, planted in 1960. Fermentation is in open-top wood vats with manual punchdowns.  Macerations, cappello sommerso (submerged cap) lasted 45 days. Aging was in neutral 1500L, 1700L, and 2500L Slavonian oak botti, for 30 months, followed by at least 8 months of bottle aging. Unfined/unfiltered. 5,000 bottles made.

 

95 points
"Packed with fruit, this red exudes cherry, strawberry, rose and iron notes, with a hint of wild herbs. Vibrant acidity and fine-grained tannins lend well-meshed support. Harmonious and surprisingly approachable already, but this will improve over the next two decades."
Bruce Sanderson ,
Wine Specatator
Augus 2024
94 points
"With fruit from Serralunga d'Alba, the Luigi Baudana 2020 Barolo Baudana is a bold and ripe expression with dark currant, black cherry, sweet orange peel and crushed red rose. Soft, earthy layers appear on the mid-palate with hints of spicy licorice. All of that intensity, with soil, fruit and spice, swells over the palate, giving this wine an impactful character. It is almost ready to drink straight out of the gate."
Monica Larner,
Wine Advocate
April 2024
93 points
"The 2020 Barolo Baudana opens with a burst of plump, juicy, red-toned fruit. Bright acids and persistent tannins are a reminder we’re in Serralunga. The 2020 is going to need a few years to come together, but it is a relatively accessible wine for this part of the appellation. The purity of the fruit here is lovely. Pretty floral and spice overtones lift the finish effortlessly."
Antonio Galloni ,
Vinous Media
November 2023

SKU/Code: 
DB3271-20
Product Line: 
Wine
Red
Varietal: 
Nebbiolo
Farming Type: 
Organic