Skip to content

VALMAGGIORE Nebbiolo d’Alba 2021

 

Tasting notes

The 2021 Valmaggiore is an exercise in restraint. It offers up pretty, uplifting aromas of red fruits, roses, white pepper and freshly-picked violets.

 

On the palate, red fruits are front and center, framed by tobacco, spice and mineral notes. The tannins are both strong and soft yet give the wine its unmistakable mid-weight structure.

 

The acidity is bracingly fresh, and the finish long and layered, with red fruits, graphite and earth notes lingering.

 

Ratings for the vintage 2021

Falstaff 93 points 
James Suckling 91 points
Vini Buoni d'Italia 4 stelle
Vinous 94 points 
Wine Enthusiast 92 points

 

Download wine description

 

Evolution of the vintage 2021

The 2020-2021 winter was extremely snowy, with cumulative snowfalls in higher elevations of the Barolo zone reaching 3+ meters over 4 snowfalls. The weather warmed in March and there were 2 weeks of unseasonably warm temperatures before the early April frost event. The frost lasted about 48 hours, depending on the site, and affected all of Europe. The vines had already begun budding and damages were luckily limited to lower elevations and places where air currents pushed the cold air up the hillsides. Fortunately, none of our vineyards were affected. 

 

Flowering was in the first week of June and coincided with the first period of real warmth. Thereafter, June and July were alternating warm-cool with well-timed rainstorms. The last significant summer rain was in mid-July, which also brought devastating hail to parts of Monforte, Novello and Roero.

 

Summer continued with little rainfall, contributing to what proved to be an excellent plant health and quality profile at harvest time.

In early September the night temperatures began to cool, and the plants received a bit of refreshment from a few rainstorms in the middle of September. General disease pressures were low in 2021 due to lack of humidity and good air circulation. Although there was little rainfall, this had virtually no effect on the grapevine, plants known for their capacity to resist.

 

The low yields, as expert viticulturists can tell, are a sure indicator of the high quality of the fruit.

There are significant temperature and climatic similarities between 2016 and 2021, including the high August heat. The biggest difference between the two growing seasons was water – in 2016, its relative abundance, versus its lack in 2021.

 

Harvest took place from September 29th until October 7th.

 

Vintage

 

sibi et paucis

powered by webEdition CMS