•
1 1

Wine Tasting Adventure

2020 Corino Giovanni di Corino Giuliano, Barolo `Arborina` - Liberty

£74.99 GBP
£74.99 GBP

The Corino family have farmed land in La Morra since the 1950s, originally coming to the region as ‘mezzadri’, or sharecroppers. Yet it wasn’t until Giuliano Corino took over from his grandfather Giovanni in the 1980s that the Corino name became synonymous with some of La Morra’s finest Nebbiolo. Having originally sold their fruit, Giuliano was determined to start making and bottling his own wine from his family's vines.

The 1980s were a momentous time for winemaking in Barolo. With the advent of new thinking, based on foundations laid by the great Angelo Gaja, Giuliano experimented with rotary fermenters, short macerations, and small French oak barrels. In all his wines, tannins are perfectly managed, and oak is beautifully integrated, the result of Giuliano’s interpretation of a style that sits comfortably between tradition and modernity.

Today, Giuliano is helped both in the vineyard and cellar by his wife Stefania, daughter Veronica and son Andrea. Their wines offer wonderful expressions of the prime sites planted just below La Morra, where the estate’s 9.5 hectares are farmed.

The Langhe Nebbiolo is unoaked and released after one year ageing in stainless steel, resulting in a beautiful purity and fragrance with great balance. The Barolo hails from several sites around Annunziata, within the commune of La Morra. It is powerful yet balanced with alluring notes of redberry fruit and spices. The two single vineyards, ‘Giachini’ and ‘Arborina’, are planted on opposite sides of the small hamlet of Annunziata, where the winery is based. The soils here are primarily calcareous marl clays. While ‘Giachini’ faces south, ‘Arborina’ has a southeastern aspect, and its soils comprise a higher proportion of sand. The Barolo ‘Giachini’ shows an amplified complexity and density, while the superb Barolo ‘Arborina’ displays elegance and power, with its ripe fruit leavened by hints of spice and floral notes.

The ‘Bricco Manescotto’ vineyard, on the border with Castiglione Falletto, enjoys a southwestern exposure with soils comprised of equal parts clay, sand and marl. As with his other Barolos, after harvesting and crushing, Giuliano controls extraction during fermentation with rotary fermenters at 25 – 30°C. After malolactic fermentation in stainless steel, most of the wines are matured for up to 24 months in small French barrels, of which roughly a third are new. Once blended, the wines spend about six months in stainless steel before bottling.

The Arborina vineyard is located in the Frazione Annunziata, in the commune of La Morra, at an altitude of 250–270 metres above sea level. The vineyard enjoys an ideal south-eastern exposure and the soil is mainly clay and sand. Although it is not part of the “historical” vineyards of La Morra, this vineyard has made a name for itself by producing wines with characteristic fruit and freshness. Vines are Guyot pruned.

The 2020 vintage began with a relatively dry and sunny early spring. May brought considerable rainfall and unsettled weather that persisted through late June, creating challenges during the growing season. Moderate overnight temperatures in late summer allowed the grapes to develop perfectly by mid-September.

The grapes were crushed and destemmed upon arrival to the winery. Berries underwent a five to seven day maceration in temperature-controlled rotary fermenters at 25-30°C. Fermentation took place in stainless-steel tanks. After malolactic fermentation, the wine was moved to small French oak barriques for 24 months. The wine was transferred to stainless-steel tanks for final blending and stayed there for six months. Finally, the wine spent a year in bottle before release

On the nose, this wine has delicate aromas of red fruits, tobacco and a hint of mint. The palate is intense with notes of dried strawberries, smoke and rosehips. It is full-bodied with silky tannins and high acidity, making this an extremely well-balanced, pleasant and attractive Barolo, with a long, lingering finish.