BAROLO PIRA LUIGI – Serralunga d’Alba

Luigi Pira is one of the most representative wineries of the classy Barolos coming from the village of Serralunga d’Alba. They are lucky to boast 3 very important single vineyards (crus) in this town including Margheria, Vigna Rionda and finally Marenca which we chose for you. They are not extreme in any way in terms of winemaking practices using both french and slavonian oaks depending on which works best for determined wines and vintages. What can’t be beat, is the magical soil coming from this Eastern part of the Barolo area. The family is also very down to earth and we consider Pira wines to maintain great value for wines coming from such prized plots.

 

 

Why we chose this wine: We LOVE wines from Serralunga d’Alba and knew we wanted to include Pira’s wines in our club. The “Margheria” is known for being softer and more elegant therefore somewhat atypical from the general character of Serralunga wines. “Vigna Rionda” is probably the all time GRAND CRU of the Barolo area mixing both elegance and the classic tannic structure of Barolo. 2015 was quite a warm year and perhaps Vigna Rionda with a full south facing slope made this wine seem a bit easier than usual. This is why we chose “Marenca” – the epitome of POWER! When we tasted all 3 this seemed to best represent the so-called “masculine” barolo from the old calcareous clay and limestone Helvation soils.

BAROLO PIRA MARENCA 2015 –  Single vineyard in Serralunga d’Alba

24 MONTHS AGED IN OAK

THE 2015 VINTAGE: 2015 vintage is considered a great year for Barolo. Although it is thought be a “hot” vintage, there was plenty of water reserve in the soil from the previous year which was extremely rainy! The hottest month was July so we got nice concentration of sugars and fruit flavors but with preserved acidity thanks to the normal Fall weather. What I like about this vintage is that they are BIG but without being atypical Barolos or too jammy and immediate. They are powerful but with the ability to be drunk now or aged. We highly suggest waiting a few years if you can to drink this Barolo despite the vintage because it has so much to offer and is still very tight and structured.

MARENCA VINEYARD: You may never have heard of this “cru” Marenca before when compared to the famed Vigna Rionda, Lazzarito, Francia etc. That is because they are the only producer to state this single cru on the label. A fun fact is that they share this vineyard with just one other producer: GAJA. Full stop! Gaja puts this into one of his Barolos. We thought this was an extra piece of inside information:) and would give you a taste of it, at 1/3 of the price!