Nebbiolo is truly one of the best grape varietals in the world. The epicenter for this wine is the Barolo area of Piemonte, Italy. Nebbiolo is the base for wines such as Barbaresco, Barolo, Roero, Valtellina, Spanna, Ghemme and Gattinara to name a few. Over the course of my professional wine career, I have been fortunate enough to probably taste over 4,000 different examples of Nebbiolo. When it comes to the 11 Barolo communes, there are two different bottlings you will find – Barolo and Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo D’ Alba. Last year, as I was trying over 700 different examples, I had the tremendous pleasure of visiting Famiglia Anselma in Barolo.
Famiglia Anselma is perched in Barolo, high above the village, in a castle that is completely new construction and a project in process for over 20 years. It is the dream of Maurizio and his mother Giovanna (who is the maniacal wizard of the vineyards) to one day open their new cellar which is a visually stunning masterpiece. No pictures are allowed inside, but the 3-4 stories underground I witnessed in person were spectacular! Hallway after hallway of brick stone walls, painstakingly labored on over the past two decades. I quickly skimmed my eyes over cages filled with bottles, at least 4 deep and 10 across. I surmised that there must be at least 500,000 bottles being stored in this underground masterpiece. With a quick wink Maurizio shared that he couldn’t tell me exactly how many bottles were there, but one day hoped to have the largest collection in Barolo.
Famiglia Anselma has nearly 40 hectares scattered across the best plots in Barolo, Monforte and Serralunga D’Alba. Giovanna has an insane attention to detail, having timed the routes between all of her vineyards and back to the cellar for optimal freshness and temperature during harvest. Maurizio took me on a tour throughout the entire property, proud to show me the jewel of his and his mother’s dreams from over 20 years ago. I must reiterate how impressive this is to have the level of commitment, dedication and money to see this project through. The Langhe is very conservative, small and prone to gossip. The Anselmas have shielded themselves away behind their castle walls to remain oblivious to outside influence and not stray from their conviction. This became abundantly clear upon tasting their wines and discovering some of the best that the Langhe has to offer.
They only produce Langhe Nebbiolo and Barolo. Nothing else!
A great Barolo like the great Giuseppe Rinaldi once said should be hard to define especially when young. “It should have angles not curves”, he once famously stated. Anselma’s wines are like this all so precise on the palate yet hard to describe as they constantly evolved in my glass. Full of different bouquets, every single one of them demonstrating typicity of soil and the particular parcels they come from. I tasted through every single cru and multiple vintages to understand how they demonstrated the climate without any interference in winemaking. The wines all were about power yet with tremendous finesse and ageability. Not a single wine would demonstrate green or unripe tannins which you can sometimes find very slightly in Barolo. No, these wines were not manipulated nor did I feel any poor winemaking present. Anselma’s wines are spectacular in all judging categories for length of finish, approach upon the palate, complexity of fruit, balance of fruit and acidity, maturity of tannins etc..
I was completely blown away especially when considering their price points. These wines represented the best of Barolo I have tasted during the year, which included dozens of very famous producers. The 1997 Adasi which Maurizio gifted to me on the way out the door represented the best Barolo I tasted of the entire year! It continued to evolve over the course of five days! Coincidentally, I picked up a 2016 Langhe Nebbiolo of his recently and poured a glass and left the bottle open for one week. The glass was difficult to understand and truthfully not enjoyable on the palate but I knew it would open eventually. After a few hours once again I was blown away with its bouquet and elegance. The bottle only cost 18euro!!!! When considering just Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo D Alba there are two basic styles – those that are made to drink fresh when young or those producers that treat them like a Barolo. Anselma treats it like a Barolo. For me, this is truly magical when you can lay down a wine that only costs 15-18 dollars for 10-20 years and it tastes like something that costs 100 dollars. This is a treat and very rare to find, but you have it here with Anselma. I am excited to fill my entire cellar with Famiglia Anselma Barolos and Langhe Nebbiolo. I seriously doubt that these prices will remain where they are currently once the castle opens to the public. I would suspect a huge jump in price upon completion due to the length of time Maurizio has been aging them and once the word gets out the wines will be gobbled up.
Maurizio and Family: Thank you so much for opening my eyes and showing me a wonderful traditional Barolo which is treated with the elegance and respect it deserves. I cannot wait until your cellar opens to the public. Your wines are truly among the greatest found in the Langhe.
For anyone that has not yet made a pilgrimage to such hallowed wine country you can do so with me here.
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