1973 Bellavista Barolo

Bellavista is Italy’s most admired producer of sparkling wines made in the méthode champenoise. The estate was founded in 1984 by Vittorio Moretti, who was a highly successful construction industry entrepreneur before dipping his toe into wine production. He now owns several wine estates, and Bellavista is today a nearly 500-acre estate with a sleek, modern tasting room and cellars comparable to the modernist wine estates of northern California. Moretti was the first of what is now a larger community of wealthy industrialists who’ve opened wineries in the Franciacorta DOCG, just northeast of Milan. Bellavista started the trend in Franciacorta of producing sparkling wine using traditional Champagne methods, in which the secondary fermentation occurs in the bottle, among other practices. Gambero Rosso has often awarded Bellavista’s wines 3 glasses, and the winery itself has the distinction of being one of Gambero Rosso’s Two Star producers, meaning the winery has produced a large number of 3 glass wines. Gambero Rosso noted in 2016 that “the Bellavista style, developed over the years with the aid of oenologist Mattia Vezzola, is an unmistakable blend of elegance and complexity.”

Barolo is one of Italy’s greatest wine appellations. In fact many cognoscenti of Italian wines consider Barolo to be the apex of Italian winemaking. Barolo is sometimes referred to as “the king of wines, and the wine of kings” partly because until the mid-19th century Piedmont was owned by the noble House of Savoy, the historic rulers of northwestern Italy. And the Savoys had a taste for Nebbiolo. Nestled into the rolling hills of Langhe, the Barolo DOCG includes 11 communes, one of which is the town of Barolo. There are 4,200 vineyard acres in the appellation and since the late 19th century growers have tried to identify their best vineyards. By marketing some vineyards as better quality than others, Barolo producers have followed the Burgundian custom of making single vineyard, or “cru” vineyard bottlings. As in neighboring Barbaresco, the Barolo DOCG requires that wines be 100% Nebbiolo, a grape thought of as the Pinot Noir of Italy. Records show that Nebbiolo was grown in the Piedmont as early as the 14th century, and despite being somewhat finicky – it is late to ripen and easily damaged by adverse weather --- Nebbiolo makes highly aromatic and powerful red wines. Until the mid-19th century Nebbiolos of Piedmont were vinified as sweet wines, though that ended in the late 19th century when a French oenologist was invited to Piedmont to show producers how to make dry reds. Barolo was made a DOC in 1966 and upgraded to DOCG status in 1980. Barolos must be aged at least three years, at least two of those years in wood. Barolos are tannic and robust and generally need at least five years to soften into complex, earthy wines.

This red grape is most often associated with Piedmont, where it becomes DOCG Barolo and Barbaresco, among others. Its name comes from Italian for “fog,” which descends over the region at harvest. The fruit also gains a foggy white veil when mature.