Description
Curto, Barolo “La Foia”
Consider this offer the latest chapter in my as-yet-unpublished book, “Barolo: The Best Fine-Wine Value in the World.” It’s a lengthy volume, full of heritage producers like Marco Curto, who for 60 years has farmed four hectares of vineyards in the hamlet of Annunziata, within the village of La Morra.
His Nebbiolo grapes for Barolo come primarily from the “Arborina” vineyard, not merely one of La Morra’s most cherished crus but one of the most famous vineyards in the entire Barolo appellation (thanks in no small part to Marco’s brother-in-law, Elio Altare). The octogenarian Marco still puts in work in his vineyards and shares a lifetime of accumulated wisdom with his daughter, Nadia, who now runs the show, and their 2014 “La Foia” is a triumph of experience in a difficult vintage. We’ve tasted plenty of ’14s that succeeded despite a rainy growing season, and this is probably the best of the lot so far—a Barolo of amazing aromatic complexity and classic structure. It’s truly dazzling, and then there’s the value proposition I mentioned above: This is the kind of red that gets poured during a tasting and completely re-calibrates everyone’s palate, its profundity undeniable, and yet it remains accessibly priced. I’d never be able to stick to one style of wine for the rest of my life, but if I had to, this would be it.
To put a finer point on it, my “desert island” red wine would be Barolo from La Morra specifically. Among the five principal villages of the Barolo growing zone (which covers all or part of 11 towns in total), La Morra is known for the prettiest, most perfumed expressions of the often-austere Nebbiolo grape. The best vineyards in La Morra, “Arborina” being perhaps the best of them all, are oriented to the south and east, taking in morning rather than afternoon sun and producing less tannic wines than towns across the valley like Serralunga and Monforte. There is a little more clay mixed with limestone marl in the soils of La Morra and neighboring Barolo, whereas villages such as Serralunga, Castiglione Falletto, and Monforte transition to more sandstone and marl, which also plays a role in the structure of the wines. In the greatest La Morra Barolos, the fruit/earth balance is especially well-preserved, the aromatics have a little extra lift and persistence, and the tannins are firm rather than forbidding.
And, as I’ve noted both above and in previous Curto offers, this isn’t some upstart label with no track record. Marco Curto, now in his mid-80s, long sold his grapes to others. The family’s vineyard holdings include a parcel in the grand cru-equivalent “Arborina” cru, a site which is also farmed by Elio Altare (among others). After seizing the opportunity to apprentice with Altare—who also, like so many grand old men of Barolo, have handed the reins over to daughters, not sons—Nadia Curto convinced Marco to begin estate-bottling. Her approach in both the vineyards and the cellar is resolutely natural and traditional, with organic certification pending for the vineyards and only used, large-format barrels in the cellar. She uses only ambient yeasts to initiate fermentations and endeavors to use as little sulfur as possible, adding the minimum-possible amount only at bottling.
“La Foia” means “leaf” in Piedmontese dialect, and is the name of the estate’s ‘base’ Barolo bottling (they also bottle a single-vineyard wine from Arborina). It is aged for more than 24 months in botti (large barrels) of 25- and 30-hectoliter capacity, bottled unfined and unfiltered, then aged 12 months in bottle before release.
Its impeccable balance and aroma-enhancing freshness is what will preserve it over the longer term—it’s not a 30-year wine (or vintage), but the next 10-15 are going to be magnificent. In the glass, it’s a deep garnet-red moving to pink and orange at the rim, with a bursting bouquet of florals, fruit, and earth: cherry kirsch, juicy red currant, blood orange, wet rose petals, violets, sandalwood, grilled herbs, leather, and woodsy underbrush. Medium-plus in body and lushly textured (by Nebbiolo standards), it has a bright, “Burgundian” personality that begins to really pour forth after 30 minutes or so in a decanter. If I were asked to open what I consider to be a “textbook” La Morra Barolo, I’d eagerly reach for this one—which shouldn’t be surprising given Uncle Elio’s expertise in this area. Serve La Foia at 60 degrees in large Burgundy stems and pair its aromatic charms with an herb-crusted pork loin drizzled with pan gravy. Do yourself a favor, too, and stock up—one bottle is not going to be enough!
