In 1930, Cesare Porello began to transition his family’s farm from mixed fruit crops to strictly viticulture. The property is in Roero, just across the Tanaro river from the Langhe hills. Here, they’ve spent a century making touchstone wines for the region, focused primarily on Arneis and Favorita. But alongside their white wines, they’ve always made Nebbiolo, prime examples of the more ethereal side of the variety. Their Nebbiolos have always been delicious and serious wines in their own right, but current proprietor Marco Porello long dreamt of making Barolo proper.

With the 2017 vintage, Marco began making the family’s first Barolo. The Nebbiolo fruit comes from two of the most celebrated villages in the region, Novello and Serralunga. Novello is located in the western half of the appellation, and can essentially be thought of as a southern extension of the Barolo village. Nebbiolo here brings lift and grace, red fruit and floral tones. Serralunga is prized for producing perhaps the most long-lived Nebbiolo in the world, wines of deep minerality and prominent structure. Blended, the two villages produce Barolo that combines the best of both worlds: early drinking, and a long life in the cellar.

Why You’ll Love It

• 2020 in Barolo was warm and sunny, making for one of the most accessible vintages in recent memory. Pulsing fruit and gorgeous lift is the name of the game in a 2020 like Porello’s, and it’s the rare Barolo you can pop and pour as soon as it’s in your hands.

• The nose opens with waves of sweet red cherry, strawberry, red plum skin, rose petals, cedar, tobacco, tar, and black pepper. It’s simply gorgeous.

• On the palate, there’s certainly Nebbiolo’s signature tannic structure, but it isn’t forbidding or austere. Rather, the polished tannins provide some cut to the primary fruit notes, and juicy acidity makes for a sense of refreshment we don’t often see in Barolo.

• This might not age for a half-century like some Barolo, but make no mistake: you should stash away plenty of this. It’ll provide gobs of enjoyment for the next fifteen to twenty years.

How To Enjoy It

• Break out the Burgundy bowls; you’ll want to revel in every drop of the kaleidoscopic aromatics on display here. 

• Serve just above cellar temp, around 65 degrees, cool enough to keep it refreshing, but not so cold as to emphasize the tannins.

• Enjoy alongside some simply prepared pork chops with rosemary, and as it ages, bring on the truffles!

• It’s Barolo we’d happily pour alongside some much better-known producers, but there’s no beating around the bush on the value here. $38 on four bottles or more for Barolo of this caliber is insane!