Alcohol: 13.5%
Grape(s): 100% Nebbiolo
Location: Barolo, Piedmont, Italy
Tasting Notes: Ruby red color with purple highlights. Ethereal, persistent with violet, rose, fresh fruits and spicy hints on the nose. A dry, harmonious, velvety, full-bodied wine, austere and generous wine.
Notes: Indefinitely one of the coolest wine labels, Borgogno’s 'No Name' signifies a quiet protest to Barolo wine, a label of protest against Italian wine bureaucracy as it basically declassified Barolo. 15 years ago Borgogno submitted two Barolo samples made the same way, aged in two separate casks, to the Barolo tasting commission. They approved one cask sample, but not the other. Borgogno was determined to share the rejected wine with the world, a wine denied of a name, hence “No Name.”
Following a manual harvest of Nebbiolo grapes, in the cellar the grapes are destemmed and pressed. This is followed by a spontaneous fermentation in large concrete tanks, at a temperature between 22°C and 28°C for about 15 days. This is followed by a soft pressing and ageing into large Slavonian oak barrels for a bit more than 2 years.
Food pairing: A Nebbiolo with a great structure. It goes perfectly with the great classics of Piedmontese cuisine, such as wild game meat and braised meat. Moving to France we can pair it with Bourguignonne. In Norway, there is Tradisjonell Etersuppe (soup with vegetables and pork knuckle). Further east, however, shashlik (marinated mutton) is used in Caucasian cuisine. It can be combined with many meat dishes in the Balkan Peninsula, such as Selsko Meso (pork and mushroom stew). Further south, in Greece with pork, souvlaki (meat skewers). In Colombia, with posta negra (beef in sauce). Moving to the East, on the other hand, it is perfect with grilled meat, according to the Japanese teppanyaki method.
The Domain: Since 1761, Giacomo Borgogno & Figli has been one of the most historical wineries in Barolo. The underground cellars continue to represent a rare historical memory of the Langa to this day, and the wines are made according to tradition: long spontaneous fermentations in concrete tanks without the use of selected yeasts, and long periods of ageing, strictly in large Slavonian oak barrels.
Giacomo Borgogno & Figli uses no chemical fertilisers and no herbicides, and practice only eco-friendly treatments. This will result in being certified as organic for the 2019 harvest. Today, Borgogno continues to be the expression of a territory and of tradition and history, always with a watchful eye on the future.
