Barolo Vigna La Rosa

Barolo Vigna La Rosa is ideal with rich red meats and grilled fillet steak in particular; any beef or veal dish with wild mushrooms as well as truffle dishes such as “fonduta” and “tajarin” (egg noodles with butter and truffles); excellent also with feathered game such as partridge, pheasant, wild duck and pigeon and other slightly gamey birds such as Guinea fowl and quail; hearty braised beef in Barolo; medium –ripe cheeses. It excels after dinner, as a “meditation” wine.

Since 1878 Fontanafredda Estate & Winery located in the heart of Piedmont's Langhe region has been a benchmark for Barolo and Barbera wines that deftly balance deep aromas and concentration of fruit with elegance. Among the prized vineyard sites belonging to Fontanafredda are those in the commune of Serralunga d'Alba a source of some of today's most distinctive and intriguing Barolo wines.

“La Rosa” vineyard in the village of Serralunga. The vineyard is positioned on mid-hillside (250-300m asl) facing south/south-west. The soil’s origin is Miocene-Helvetian, which is characteristically packed with calcareous marl and limestone. Planting density is 4.600 plants/ha.

Barolo Vigna La Rosa's ageing begins in Allier oak barrels, 50% of which are new. The wine remains in these barrels for around 12 months, and is then racked into medium-small oak casks holding 2,000 and 3,000 litres to continue ageing for another year. This further refines the tannins without increasing the wine’s woodiness, achieving the right balance between the grapes’ aromas and the wood. The wine is then clarified using - if necessary - egg-whites to round off any remaining rough edges and obtain a perfectly clear product. Finally the wine is bottled, and stored in the cellar for around a year prior to its release.

Harvest: first-second decade in October. The de-stemmed, crushed grapes are heated up to around 32-33° C, and the process of pumping the juice over the skin cap begins immediately. This takes place frequently over the first 3 days in order to extract the optimal amount of colour and tannins. As the alcohol content increases, the extraction of too many tannins is prevented by dropping the temperature to around 25° C and reducing the volume of liquid pumped over the skins. During this maceration - lasting 20-30 days – “delastages” are performed to improve tannins extraction and provide oxygen to the yeast for the production of cleaner, more elegant aromas. The alcoholic fermentation is followed immediately by the malolactic fermentation, which is encouraged by keeping the wine in heat-conditioned tanks at a temperature of around 20°C.