Brezza Barolo Sarmassa 2020
£51.25
The wine
A fragrant and elegant wine with complex aromas of wild berries layered with menthol, leather, liquorice, violet, earthy tones and subtle herbal notes. Beautifully balanced, with firm tannins, a fruity mid-palate and great length.
Sarmassa lies on the western side of Barolo village, on Tortonian marl, and is prized for perfume and elegance rather than sheer power. Brezza hold parcels in both Sarmassa and Cannubi, which sit close together but face differently, and tasting the pair alongside one another is one of the more instructive things available in the Langhe.
The producer
Brezza
View all Brezza winesTwelve and a half hectares of vines in the commune of Barolo, taking in parcels of Cannubi, Castellero and Sarmassa, with the two-hectare Santa Rosalia estate just outside the DOCG boundary and further plots at Monforte and Novello. The family have farmed organically since the 2015 vintage.
Brezza are traditionalists in a region that spent the 1990s arguing about it. The so-called Barolo Wars pitted modernists, who favoured short macerations, small French barrique and early approachability, against traditionalists working long macerations in large old Slavonian oak casks that add structure rather than flavour. Enzo Brezza belongs firmly to the second camp and intervenes as little as he can.
The family also run a hotel and restaurant in the village of Barolo, which they have done since 1885, and the winery has been making wine under its own label since 1910. Holding parcels in both Cannubi and Sarmassa, two of the finest crus in the commune, gives an unusually direct comparison between neighbouring hillsides.
