Roagna: Barolo Pira vecchie viti 2020

From the vines at least 50 to 80 years old in the monopole vineyard Pira.

Pira, with nearly five hectares of vineyard area, is Luca Roagna’s largest site and also a monopole vineyard. From here come the Langhe Nebbiolo, the Barolo – from vines aged 40 to 70 years – and the Vecchie Viti, from the oldest vines. The soil is extremely complex: partly sandy with rock fragments, partly blue and gray marl with lots of iron and stones. This terroir always produces fantastically elegant wines.

Since Luca inaugurated his new cellar in 2010, the Pira grapes are transferred from the vineyard to the barrel within 1.5 hours. It probably doesn’t get any faster anywhere else.

The old vines are harvested by the four most experienced team members – here, work is precise and meticulous – only perfect grapes make it to the cellar. On average, five to ten percent whole clusters are co-fermented to preserve freshness and keep the alcohol level low.

The difference between the Pira Vecchie Viti and the regular Barolo is immense. The reserved character of the Vecchie Viti reveals a completely different wine. Like a construction set with Lego bricks. Right, left, top, bottom – cleanly defined and powerfully pushing forward. Luca makes all his Cru vineyard wines the same way: relatively late harvest, because full phenolic ripeness is very important to Roagna to achieve this incredible finesse and polished, fine tannins. After fermentation, the pomace remains in contact with the wine for another two months before it is separated. Then follows 5 years of aging, at least three years in large Garbelotto wooden casks, the rest in concrete. At Garbellotto, the wood ages for at least ten years before being made into wine barrels, making it mild and free of bitter aromas. Luca still uses new wooden barrels only for his white wines. For the reds, the extremely slow exchange of oxygen with the wine is the focus. The barrels are 10 cm thick, more than four times thicker than a barrique, so oxidation is extremely gentle and slow.

Medium, bright ruby red. A floating Burgundian, ultra-elegant, accessible, earthy nose. Ripe, juicy sweet strawberries and precise red cherries with delicate smoky graphite, ethereal, floating, pickled herbs, leather, tar, and baked clay. The wine is both stony and mineral with prominent aromas of salty limestone, but also this wonderfully fragrant autumn forest aroma, seductive rose petals, and deep, layered spice that also floats over the wine’s red berry fruit. On the palate, this Pira Vecchie Viti reveals many precise, polished, and ultra-fine tannins that transition on the tongue to salty vibrating limestone and crisp red currant with tension. The juicy dark forest berry fruit, ripe strawberries, and red cherries build on this. In its texture, this wine also recalls the grip of ripe red currants. The finish leaves herbal notes together with the red fruit and delicate spice that waves over the tongue, as well as a lot of iron-rich minerality on the palate.

The old vines bring all their density and experience. The young wine changes from minute to minute. It is a difficult task to capture it in words that do it justice. Luca Roagna comments that these old vine wines always need a bit more air. This delicate depth echoes stonily and with iron-rich minerality in the mouth. A great wine with even more structure than the Paje! A Barolo of the highest class.