Vignarionda is one of the most famous crus of Serralunga d'Alba: a fully south-facing amphitheatre on limestone soils that gives powerful, long-lived Barolo. Giovanni Rosso farms a 0.85-hectare parcel, with vines partly planted in 1946 and the rest replanted in 2011 from a massal selection of the original plants.
The name on the label belongs to Ester Canale, wife of founder Tommaso Canale: the family had been forced to sell the vineyard and bought it back forty years later, in 2011. Since then Davide Rosso has made only a handful of bottles.
The 2019 vintage was awarded "110 cum laude". In the glass you get the full class of Serralunga: deep red fruit, rose, spice, liquorice and a powerful yet already refined tannin. Worth waiting for, or open it with braised meats and game.
At a glance: Nebbiolo 100% · 14% ABV · 0.75 l · Giovanni Rosso, Serralunga d'Alba

