Famiglia Anselma, Piedmont
‘The sun after the rain’, Maurizio Anselma says of the 1993 vintage, coming after two poor years in the region. Softening but still pure and well-delineated, the nose and palate joining to give bruised strawberries, licorice, rose petals and rosemary, iodene and the meat juices from a rare steak. Drinking beautifully now, we are very fortunate to have good stocks of this fully mature Barolo.
The Famiglia Anselma estate
Famiglia Anselma is appropriately named, with Giovanna and Renato working in the vineyards and winery respectively and their son Maurizio out front, tirelessly championing the estate's credo of 'Barolo e nientaltro' (Barolo and nothing else). The Anselma Family have 80 hectares of prime vineyards in Monforte d'Alba, Serralunga and Barolo, making them one of the largest landowners in the region. Unusually they make no cru wines, preferring to blend grapes from only the best performing sites each vintage to represent the house style which is essentially mid-weight but impressively structured (maceration times often being the lengthiest of any producer in the region). The reserve wine, Adasi, comes exclusively from the Ravera and Le Coste vineyards of Monforte and sees an extra year's oak ageing (hence the name - meaning slowly). The Estate is in the finishing stages of a monumental construction project, building a spectacular castle-winery near to Castello delle Volta, only using only masonry and old timbers from the area. Ever a highlight of our Piemonte wine tour, Maurizio has promised that all those who visit the winery with us will be invited back for the party to celebrate its completion.