More about Cordero di Montezemolo

Look up at the hill of Monfalletto above La Morra and you'll see it: a huge cedar of Lebanon, planted in 1856 to mark a family wedding and now a symbol of Barolo itself. The vineyards below it have been in the same family's hands since 1340.

The Falletti family held the land for six centuries; in 1941 it passed by inheritance to Paolo Cordero di Montezemolo, who began building a name for its Barolo. Today siblings Elena and Alberto Cordero di Montezemolo run the estate, the nineteenth generation, with more than 50 hectares of certified organic vineyards, many in large contiguous blocks rather than the scattered rows typical of the Langhe.

The heart of the range is Barolo Monfalletto, from the home hill in La Morra's Annunziata district: Nebbiolo of perfume and finesse rather than brawn. Enrico VI comes from the Villero cru in Castiglione Falletto and is the sturdier, darker wine; Gattera rounds out the Barolo lineup, alongside Barbera, Dolcetto, Arneis and Chardonnay. The house style aims for balance and elegance, wines that drink well young but age beautifully, as mature bottles of Monfalletto and Enrico VI from the 1970s and '80s still show.