Brovia Barolo 2019

95 pts Wine Advocate
On a shortlist of "annata" wines to buy from Piedmont this year is the Brovia 2019 Barolo. Made from a blend of fruit from Castiglione Falletto and Serralunga d'Alba, this wine delivers a very sharp and chiseled performance that puts a priority on directness, freshness and length. This pretty wine has a pronounced fruity side and a mineral side, and these two parts converge beautifully. There are hints of dried mint and licorice on the close of this must-have wine. 25,000 bottles were produced.  Elena Brovia and Alex Sanchez delivered an exceptional set of new releases. They also have some exciting news to report, including the acquisition of two parcels in Serralunga d'Alba.

This cuvée is a blend of the younger vines found in the various crus. Since its inception, the Barolo has offered a stylish take on the Brovia approach to this appellation. There is never excess here, no attempt to showboat or to flaunt an image of power. Above all, balance is the key element in faithfully rendering a Barolo of great stature. You will find here the classic grainy tannins, the long, mineral-inflected finish, the aromas of late-summer roses and flavors of dried cherries. After a fermentation of approximately three weeks, the wine is aged for at least two years in a combination of large and medium-sized barrels of Slavonian and French origin. Production averages 13,000 bottles.

Brovia
Castiglione Falletto, Barolo

Brovia's modern era has been red hot for the last 10 years, while being an under-the-radar estate for 25 years or so before that.  I champion these traditional wines as some of my favorites from Barolo that are at the least available to purchase and where pricing has not gone nutzo: Alessandria, Vajra, Altare, Negri, Cavallotto, Colla, Sandrone, etc.

In 1863 Giacinto Brovia founded the Brovia estate in the village of Castiglione Falletto, in the heart of the Barolo district. The family has been continually engaged in the growing of grapes and the production of wine since that time. The phylloxera plague, economic upheaval and two wars interrupted production for almost 30 years but, in 1953 they resumed full-scale wine production.

The Brovia wines are vinified in the classic style with longer macerations over a month, sometimes up to 2 months. The Barolo are aged for at least two years in large, neutral 30 hectoliter barrels of Slavonian oak. The wines are then bottled without filtration and released after 18 to 24 months of bottle-aging.