For as long as I’ve been working in wine, Oddero has been a Barolo benchmark—but, in my experience, their recent releases have truly reached another level. Theirs have always been reliable, ageworthy, traditionally styled wines, but recent vintages have shown greater polish and precision than ever before.
Today’s 2011, from a choice parcel within the famed “Bussia” cru called “Vigna Mondoca,” has the amplitude and complexity we all should demand at this price point—this is not small change, not to me anyway, and many wines at this price fall well short of the mark for me. This one is worth it, not least because it is extremely attractive now but is also clearly built to age. Great wines achieve that balance, and, while Barolo has no official hierarchy, vineyards don’t get more ‘grand’ than Vigna Mondoca: In the best years, Oddero bottles this wine as a Riserva, meaning it is aged three years in oak and two years in bottle before release. Based on my recent multi-day love affair with this 2011 (it tasted best on Day 3), I’d go as far as to dub it underpriced: this is a sure-thing addition to any smartly curated cellar!
Oddero has long been known as one of Barolo’s enduring “traditionalists,” with wines that are built to age without any heavy ‘makeup’ from new oak (the only small barriques in the place are used for Barbera, while the Nebbiolo-based wines are aged in a mix of Slavonian and Austrian oak casks of 40-, 60-, and 75-hectoliter capacity). Oddero is also, like many well-known Barolo properties these days, a ‘fempire’—Maria Cristina Oddero has been at the helm here for some time now, and is assisted by her niece, Isabella, and her son, Pietro.
Maria Cristina’s great-grandfather, Giacomo, was one of the early legends of Barolo: born in 1847, he inherited a small property in the hamlet of Santa Maria, near La Morra, and was a shrewd assessor of vineyard sites. He built up a collection of top Nebbiolo parcels; was one of the first to bottle and sell wines with the name ‘Barolo’ on them; and was involved in mapping and ‘delimiting’ what would become the Barolo DOCG. His grandson, also named Giacomo (and Maria Cristina’s father) brought the Oddero name to prominence in the modern era, helping them to become one of the larger landowners in the zone. Today they organically farm about 35 hectares of vineyards in both Barolo and Barbaresco, with pieces of great ‘cru’ vineyards in La Morra (“Brunate” and their home vineyard, “Bricco Chiesa”), Castiglione Falletto (“Villero”; “Bricco Fiasco”), Monforte (today’s “Vigna Mondoca,” within the larger “Bussia” vineyard), and Serralunga (“Vigna Rionda”). This is without a doubt one of the best-equipped properties in all of Barolo. That their wines remain such good values is a great piece of good fortune for all of us.
The Bussia cru is, as Barolo fans know, one of the largest ‘crus’ in the entire growing zone. Vigna Mondoca is a beautifully situated parcel within Bussia, with a prime southwest exposure (or sorì, in Piedmontese) that allows it to soak up warm afternoon sun. The soils, which turn white during the dry summer months, are a mix of marl and sandstone, with altitudes in Mondoca reaching to a relatively high 300+ meters.
Today’s 2011 was fermented on indigenous yeasts and left to macerate on its skins for 30 days, as is typical for a traditionally crafted Barolo (even, perhaps, a little shorter than is typical). It was aged 36 months in 30-hectoliter casks and another two years in bottle before release, and now, even after a few more years in bottle, it is still a ‘young’ wine—though I’d characterize it as more accessible than most at this point in its evolution. In the glass, it’s a deep garnet red with only slight bricking at the rim, with heady aromas of Morello cherry, blackberry, blood orange peel, tobacco, black tea, coffee grounds, and a touch of sandalwood. It is full-bodied in the way great Barolo is full-bodied—muscular, not fat, with a firm backbone of tannin and lots of freshness. The best part is that you can dip into a few bottles now (allowing about an hour in a decanter) and lay down some others to revisit over the next 10-20 years. It’ll be a better experience each time! Serve this delicious, complex red at 60-65 degrees in your best Burgundy stems and match it with a classic
osso buco. Wow will that be good.
Salute an
d
buon appetito!
