The Langhe has three major red wine regions: Barolo, Barbaresco, and Roero. Barolo and Barbaresco, south of the Tanaro River, benefit from higher altitude, and the soils are predominantly calcareous, clay, and sandstone. The climate tends to be cooler, breezier, and foggier. Roero, north of the Tanaro River, was once a giant lake, and today is a landscape of gentle slopes with mainly sandy soils and fossilized seashells. The climate is moderate, producing Nebbiolo wines that have an immediate red-fruit appeal with softer tannins and an irresistible glide on the palate. Giuseppe Damonte established Malvirà in 1950, a time when Roero's potential was in its infancy. Giuseppe, who had a passion for farming, passed on the estate to his sons in the early 1970s, who evolved the family’s bulk wine business into a fine wine one. Today, their entire production comes from six vineyards spread throughout 40 hectares, all organically farmed. The black label Renesio is a single vineyard Nebbiolo grown on Barolo-like calcareous-clay soils, versus sand, which makes it Malvirà’s most age-worthy red. Fermented in stainless steel and aged in neutral French oak for 12 months, the nose is a pinwheel of sweet and sour red fruits, tobacco, and purple flower spice. On the palate, 2008 is impressively youthful, rolling out a red carpet of fine-grained tannins and silky acidity. With almost fifteen years under cork, Malvirà exemplifies elegance within power and proves that there’s so much pleasure with Nebbiolo beyond Barolo and Barbaresco. ~Allegra Angelo
