Paolo Scavino: Barolo Cannubi 1989-2001

Owing to its small production, Scavino’s Cannubi is perhaps the least well known of his single-vineyard Barolos.   It is made in a very ripe style with notable concentration and suppleness, but without losing the feminine, perfumed quality that makes wines from this vineyard so distinctive and irresistible.  Although Cannubi is the most approachable of Scavino’s Barolos it is also a wine that has also proven to be quite capable of aging.

From 1993 to 1998 the wines were aged exclusively in barrique in an effort to make the wines ready to drink earlier, which seems to have worked.   For example, the 1996, from a structured and age-worthy vintage, is a decidedly modern-styled wine. Relatively soft and approachable right out of the bottle, it also shows the clear presence of new oak.  By comparison vintages 1989 and 1990, while displaying more evolved flavors, also show notable tannic clout, and are more classic wines that require additional time in the glass to fully express themselves.

Beginning in 1999 the wines are aged one year in barrique followed by one year in cask prior to being bottled, an approach I think works especially well here.  Scavino’s Cannubi appears to be most successful in more classic vintages that really tend to bring out the delicate, perfumed, and aromatic quality of the vineyard.  Lastly, this producer’s wines in particular really seem to benefit from extended aeration and several hours of decanting will do these wines a world of good.