2010 Barolo Otin Fiorin Piè Rupestris - Nebioli

This retrospective of Cappellano Barolos provided a great opportunity to revisit a number of vintages, including many of the benchmarks, going back to 1971. All of the wines were sourced directly from the estate, making this a tasting that will be very hard, if not impossible, to replicate.

At their best, the Cappellano Barolos represent the very best of the artisan tradition in Piedmont. This recent retrospective back to 1935 was truly unforgettable. Tiny production and insatiable demand makes large-scale tastings of Cappellano Barolos such as this one exceedingly rare. When all was said and done, we tasted a number of extraordinary, deeply moving wines.

Cappellano traces its history back to 1870, although the Cappellano of today is much different than that of the past. In the late 1960s, Baldo Cappellano found himself running a large enterprise with around 60 hectares of vineyards focused on volume production. Numerous family members, heirs and outside partners were involved. Cappellano yearned for a simpler and more artisan life, so he sold off the family’s holdings and old cellar and moved to the site of the current winery, which was then in the middle of the Serralunga countryside.

While he completed work on his new facility, Cappellano made his Barolos in the cellars of friends. From the early 1970s until 1989 the Cappellano Barolos were made from purchased fruit, mostly from the Baudana, Parafada and Gabutti vineyards in Serralunga.

In 1989, Cappellano purchased three hectares in Gabutti, which lies on the lower slopes of a hillside it shares with Parafada and Lazzarito in Serralunga. The vineyards, which today are around sixty years old, were planted with the three main Nebbiolo clones; Lampia, Michet and Rosé, all on American rootstock. Cappellano decided to add the name of Fiorino, the farmer who had tended the land, and the ‘Otin Fiorin’ Barolo was born.

In the early 1990s, a portion of the vineyard was damaged by a landslide. Cappellano chose to replant with own-rooted Nebbiolo, something I have not seen anywhere else in Piedmont. The replantings were done with mostly Michet, although there was some Rosé clone as well. I remember going to see the vineyard with Cappellano during one of my first visits many years ago. I was struck by the loose architecture of the bunches. There was very little fruit on each bunch, which is good for health, as there is plenty of room for air to circulate, but not so good when it comes to yields.

Cappellano made his first Barolo from ungrafted Nebbiolo, the Piè Franco, in 1994 with vines that were just a few years old. In doing so, Cappellano created one of Piedmont’s most deeply personal, unique wines. The Barolo from the older vines on American rootstock was christened Piè Rupestris-Nebioli, a combination of the Latin name for the grapevine and the traditional spelling of Nebbiolo.

Baldo Cappellano passed away in 2009, but not before leaving a rich legacy behind. Today, the estate is run by Cappellano’s son, Augusto, who is pretty much a carbon copy of his father. The wines remain utterly exquisite and human in both scale and spirit. Both Barolos are made along strictly traditional lines. In top years like 2010, when the skins are thick, a portion of the Rupestris is vinified with the submerged cap method, while the rest of the juice is vinified with pumpovers. Because of the smaller volume involved, the Piè Franco is always vinified only with pumpovers. Malolactic fermentations unfold gradually, relying exclusively on ambient yeasts. The wines spend nearly four years in cask, during which they see only minimal rackings, as was the case with the 2010 Barolos, which were bottled in summer 2014. In a normal vintage Cappellano produces just 8-9,000 bottles of the Piè Rupestris-Nebioli and less than 2,000 (one solitary cask) of the Piè Franco, making it one of the rarest birds in Piedmont.

The Rupestris is typically bigger and richer when it is young, although it develops considerably greater finesse in bottle, while the Piè Franco is weightless, ethereal and all about grace. Both represent pinnacles of expression for Nebbiolo and Barolo. Starting in 2010, the Piè Franco is packaged with a retro label inspired by the house’s distinguished history, a legacy Augusto Cappellano wants to pay tribute to with his flagship wine.