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The Langhe has three major red wine regions: Barolo, Barbaresco, and Roero. Barolo and Barbaresco, located south of the Tanaro River, benefit from a 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, 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 fragrant pinwheel of sweet and sour red fruits, tobacco, and purple flower spice. On the palate, 2008 is wildly impressive, rolling out a red carpet of fine-grained tannins and silky acidity. With almost fifteen years under cork, I would normally say “Enjoy this now,” but with its sleek, form-fitting structure, you can cellar this at least five years. Malvirà exemplifies elegance within power and proves that there’s so much pleasure in Nebbiolo beyond Barolo and Barbaresco. ~Allegra A