Description
Azelia, Barolo DOCG
Shocking as it may seem, the holidays will soon be upon us, and we’ll all need a ready supply of bottles that thrill our guests but don’t drain our bank accounts. We’re starting our stockpile with Azelia’s stunning 2019 Barolo. Barolo might sound like an odd pick, seeing as how it’s got a rep these days as strictly the plaything of moneyed collectors. But we maintain that no other region is so stacked with amazing under-the-radar producers working incredible terroir and producing value-laden showstoppers, exactly what you need for all the dinner parties you’re about to host. Where else could you find Azelia, a label from one of the region’s most legendary families, farming some of the most coveted land in the appellation, producing a wine like today’s that’s achingly delicious now yet promises to go a decade-plus in your cellar? And all of that for around $50? Only in Barolo. Here’s your go-to bottle, for this Thanksgiving and for many Thanksgivings to come!
Azelia was founded over a century ago by Lorenzo Scavino in the commune of Castiglione Falletto. The name “Scavino” is probably familiar to most Barolo lovers: This is another branch of the family that produced Paolo Scavino, one of the most famous Barolo producers of the late 20th century. Lorenzo farmed his vines and made wine for almost 50 years, but never bottled it, instead selling it off to bigger merchants. His son, Alfonso, began bottling in 1967 and the Azelia name was born. Now Luigi and (another) Lorenzo, 4th and 5th generation Scavinos respectively, helm the estate.
Of the five major Barolo communes, Azelia’s home village of Castiglione Falletto is noted for producing the most complete, balanced wines. If Serralunga and Monforte are about tannic power and Barolo and La Morra about perfume and elegance, Castiglione is in the bullseye between the two. It’s a terroir that neatly dovetails with the family’s winemaking philosophy, which seeks a happy medium between the forbidding structures of more devoutly old-school producers and the hedonistic pleasure bombs made by the so-called “modernistas.” Azelia offers the kind of modern Barolo we love: no new oak or heavy extraction, but a welcome embrace of technology to enhance purity of fruit and give the wines a slightly earlier-drinking edge. This 2019 is singing already, but it’s got stuffing to go the distance should you stash some away.
Classic technique is on display with Azelia’s Barolo “normale” bottling—it undergoes a traditional long maceration of 50-60 days, and is aged in very large Slavonian, Austrian, and French botti. It’s a blend of their sites across Castiglione and Serralunga, another “classical” box ticked (single-vineyard Barolo is a relatively new phenomenon; in the past, fruit from all of the communes was blended to achieve balance). One whiff, though, and you know immediately you’re in the hands of a very highly-trained and detail-oriented winemaker. The nose bursts forth with uncommon exuberance, a riot of fresh red raspberry, dried red cherry, plum skin, cherry liqueur, orange zest, rose petal, sandalwood, balsamic, and a faint hint of Barolo’s classic tar. The palate is medium-full in body, with prominent but extremely refined tannin. It’s a structure defined more by freshness and verve than tannic density, and makes for a Barolo of rare early-age seductiveness. Basically, it tastes a whole lot more expensive than it is, and it’ll wow any dinner guest. Just grab enough to serve guests for the next five to 10 years (or more)!
