It was a pleasure to start my week of visits and vintage tastings with Paola Sordo of the historic Sordo winery. The bonus was tasting with its current winemaking consultant, Gian Luca Colombo. He was a partially objective participant as most of the wines we tasted were made before he began to work with the winery. Vintages of this Sordo (mainly) Barolo vertical tasted were pre-release Barolo Gabutti 2020, Barolo Perno & Gabutti 2016, Gabutti 2014, 2013, Perno Riserva 2009, 2007, 2003 and Gabutti Riserva 1999 and 1989.
On a side note, I was marginally late for this appointment as I was distracted by the sight of a tractor grubbing up an old vineyard close to the winery. You don’t see that every day.
The great bonus of tasting at Sordo is that as a larger producer, it has an enviable 57 hectares vineyard and 8 MGA (Barolo subzone) wines. The winery does keep older wines and the winemaking in the past was resolutely traditional: long maceration on the skins and long ageing in old Slavonian oak casks.
The 2020 vintage
2020 has a good reputation. The wines are perhaps not quite to the standard of 2019 or 2021 but are very good nonetheless. The standard line is that wineries had plenty of time to work in the vineyard as, during Covid, there could be no travel to promote the wines, no visitors to look after and no sales to hotels and restaurants. Whatever the challenges of the pandemic, the season was relatively kind: the rain in May and June abated, it was warm but with not too many heat spikes and harvest was early. The Sordo Barbaresco (the only one in this line-up) had a pretty if light nose leading with redcurrant and strawberry fruit which follows through seamlessly on the palate. By Nebbiolo standards the tannins are moderate, and the wine is already possible to drink. By contrast, Barolo MGA Gabutti had dark plum fruit with herbal and nutty undertones, a more powerful tannic structure (if by the standards of Serralunga, not that intense). It will need a few years in bottle to begin to express itself. For more 2020s Barolo tasted pre-release, see my post on G.D. Vajra.
A pair of 2016s
Gabutti (Serralunga d’Alba) and Perno (Monforte d’Alba) make for an interesting contrast in the glass, for example in the 2016 vintage. In fact, the vineyards face each other on opposite sides of the Talloria di Castiglione river and share Formazione di Lequio subsoil. While the plot in Gabutti is west and south facing, the Perno plot is east facing and therefore cooler. In general terms, you might expect the former to be more intense and steely than the latter but the aspect makes a key difference here. In the glass, the Perno has yet firmer tannins and may have a longer path of evolution in the bottle.
Barolo Gabutti 2014 and 2013
These two wines demonstrated the textbook contrast between the famously cool and damp 2014 and the cool but high-quality 2013. The former showed primary fresh and some dried cherry fruit; if anything the wine was surprisingly tertiary. The medium body reflects the coolness of the year as did the still firm tannins. Nearly a decade on it is beginning to be a pleasure to drink but it will probably improve over the next decade. The latter, the 2013, was currently muted on the nose but the palate showed such elegant red fruit and layers of interest, if with resilient tannins. This will be a great wine but currently is still more about potential than pleasure.
Mid-life Sordo Barolo vertical: Perno vintages: 2009, 2007, 2003
These three were strongly contrasting and accurately the respective seasons. 2003 was very tertiary, all earth, smoke and liquorice aromas and flavours but lacked freshness. By contrast, the 2007 still led with beautiful red fruit and a genuine freshness, despite it being 16 years old. It had many years ahead of it. The 2009 while being the youngest and still showing primary floral notes, also had fresh and cooked strawberry to plum fruit, reflecting the warmth of the season and the beginnings of tertiary development.
Older vintages of Barolo Gabutti Riserva: 1999 and 1989
The winery generously opened two vintages from the two previous decades and indeed from outstanding vintages. Unsurprisingly these were both fully mature. The 1999 showed a remarkable depth of mushroom, leather and even soy notes but with plenty of freshness. A powerful, dense wine with great length. The 1989 was a touch more volatile with an acetic hint but also showed a great depth of liquorice and forest floor notes. These were both monuments to the long-term ageability of Nebbiolo in Barolo from top years.
This Sordo Barolo vertical showed very clearly the contrasts between the various vineyard sites. Above all, what was most evident was the ability of Nebbiolo to age gracefully if slowly, and to reflect the season. Bravo!