Michele Chiarlo Nizza Riserva La Court 2021
£55.25
The wine
La Court is the family flagship for Barbera, and this Riserva shows why. Beautifully textured and complex, with layers of black cherry, cocoa and coffee. Harmoniously balanced, velvety on the palate, with a long, silky finish. Its richness and elegance place it among the finest wines in the Chiarlo portfolio.
La Court is Chiarlo's own hillside at Castelnuovo Calcea, the vineyard that did most to make the case for Nizza as a serious appellation. Riserva status demands thirty months of ageing, eighteen of them in wood. The site also hosts an open-air art park, which tells you something about how the family regard it.
The producer
Michele Chiarlo
View all Michele Chiarlo winesFounded at Calamandrana in 1956 and now run by Michele Chiarlo's sons Alberto and Stefano, this is one of Piedmont's most decorated houses. Michele himself came from a family of growers in the Monferrato and built the estate outward from Barbera country into the great Nebbiolo hills.
The family hold parcels in two of the finest Barolo crus, Cannubi and Cerequio, and in La Court at Nizza, the small appellation carved out of Barbera d'Asti in 2014 for its best hillside sites. Every vineyard is farmed sustainably to Equalitas certification. The house philosophy is that oak should be used judiciously so the vineyard speaks first, which in Piedmont has not always been the fashion.
Chiarlo has also done more than most to argue that Barbera deserves serious treatment rather than being the grape Piedmont drinks while waiting for its Nebbiolo. The Barolo and Barbera wines draw 90-plus scores from Wine Advocate, James Suckling and Wine Enthusiast year after year, and in 2025 Michele Chiarlo was named European Producer of the Year at the Sommelier Wine Awards.
