“Langhe Nebbiolo” is the “Bourgogne Pinot Noir” of Piedmont, Italy. That’s the basic idea: an earlier-release, less-expensive sibling to the flagship appellation wine. Just as Bourgogne Pinot Noir from a maker of Gevrey-Chambertin or Volnay is an affordable echo of the estate’s big-ticket bottles, Marco Porello’s Langhe Nebbiolo is a breezier, easier expression of a notoriously intense variety.
Porello is one of the top producers in the Roero DOCG, the criminally underrated wine region just across the Tanaro River from Barolo and Barbaresco, and today’s 2017 is a fresh, fragrant, all-the-flavor-without-the-fat take on the Nebbiolo grape. As most lovers of Piedmont reds would agree, not every night can be a Barolo (or a Barbaresco, or a Roero) night: These wines can be rather potent and tannic (not to mention expensive), so, good as they may be, they’re not always the right choice. Take away some alcohol and a considerable amount of tannin—while leaving in all the woodland berry, rose petal, and forest-floor aromas that make Nebbiolo Nebbiolo—and you’ve got this delicious, versatile $25 gem. Stock up on this one because it disappears quickly!
The Porello family has been producing wine in the Roero wine zone since the 1930s, farming vineyards in the towns of Canale and Vezza d’Alba. The Roero DOCG is northwest of Barolo and has a sandier soil composition in comparison to either Barolo or Barbaresco, although the landscape is quite similar. Somehow, the Roero area became more famous for its fresh, fragrant local white—Arneis—than for its Nebbiolo-based reds, which can be every bit as complex and age-worthy as those grown on the other side the Tanaro. Although the higher sand content lends the Roero soils a lighter shade, there is also plenty of the same limestone marl found over in Barolo, producing Nebbiolo with plenty of structure.
Today’s wine, however, is a kinder, gentler Nebbiolo, aged only for a short period in large oak casks before bottling. As many Nebbiolo drinkers know, the “Langhe Nebbiolo” designation can be highly variable when it comes to wine style: Some of them are downright Barolo-adjacent in terms of size and structure; others, like this one, are a more pared-down look at the variety, focused primarily on its distinctively perfumed aromatics. Porello’s is the latter, and it’s a juicy, pretty, sublimely refreshing drink.
In the glass, this 2017 shines a bright cranberry-red and greets you with a basketful of red berry aromas—cherry, raspberry, currant—before layering in hints of dried orange peel, black tea, leather, underbrush, and rose petals. It is medium-bodied and mouth-wateringly tangy, with modest alcohol and well-modulated tannins that grip but not too hard: Decant this 15-30 minutes before serving at 60 degrees in Burgundy stems and you’ve got one perfect wine for that cookout with friends we all can’t wait to have when sheltering-in-place comes to an end. Check out the attached recipe for
braciole the next time you fire up the grill and then you’ll see this wine really shine. It was made precisely for this. Enjoy!
