Book Excerpt - Barolo MGA Vol. I: The Barolo Great Vineyard Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition

BY ALESSANDRO MASNAGHETTI | SEPTEMBER 17, 2018

Introduction

As all those who have the first edition of this book know very well, apropos of this question, I had written words which were rather clear: “As far as the different character and personality which Barolo can assume on the basis of the soils is concerned, the pairings Tortoniano/elegance and Serravalian/power, often to be found in the literature dealing with the zone, are to be considered, in my opinion, simplistic, even an outright fallacy. And, to perceive this, it is sufficient to compare a Barolo Brunate with a Barolo Monvigliero, both part of the Sant’Agata Fossili marls, or a Barolo Villero with a Barolo Rocche di Castiglione, both representative of the Diano Sandstones." Since then, although it is true that my opinion has not changed, it is equally true that I have had many requests for a more in-depth treatment, and equally frequent have been the occasions in which I have personally verified how much confusion reigns in this matter both among professionals in the field and wine lovers. For this reason, much assisted by the sup-port of two respected professionals such as Edmondo Bonelli for the geological questions and Gian Piero Romana for viticultural matters, in addition to Francesco Dellisanti for the mineralogical aspects, I decided to accept the challenge which they themselves proposed to me and produce a document which – thanks to their scientific contribution and my journalistic and editorial “filter” – would attempt an unambiguous, easily comprehensible, and, to the maximum extent possible, complete description of the complex geology of the Barolo production zone.

The geo-viticultural map of the Barolo DOCG appellation (bottom left) and the geo-viticultural maps of La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Verduno and Castiglione Falletto