It’s no surprise that the globalization of wine has descended upon Italy’s stunning Piedmont region and left a mark; spreading its fruit-forward, deeply colored style of wine making. While many of Piedmont’s top producers have taken the unfortunate plunge to make bigger wines that forsake terroir for the gain of big ratings and big money; it’s refreshing to see a producer like Luigi Minuto stay true to the region’s traditional form with a wine making style that brings out the true essence of Nebbiolo. Every bottle of their wine is like a step back in time.
You’ll never see a Minuto wine pour like syrupy blueberry extract. They retain a brick crimson color with a subtle orange tinge that’s always the first sign of a well-vinified Barbaresco. It doesn’t hurt that the family’s first vintage took place way back in 1913 with patriarch Luigi Minuto, setting the tone for a proud tradition of making long-lived, complex wines. Roberto Minuto has deep respect for Piedmont’s proud wine heritage and it shows with the classic wines he produces. The family has always understood that great wine can only be made when the right effort is put forth in the vineyards. Adhering to this philosophy has always made for wines with great concentration, tremendous bouquet, and incredible structure that always show their best atleast a decade after vintage.
The Luigi Minuto wines we have sourced are glorious examples of the greatness achieved when a brilliant winemaker gets the most from their vineyards and Mother Nature offers the perfect conditions to work with. Only the best fruit from Minuto’s Nebbiolo vineyards ever make it into the final selection. The wines typically go through a 20 day maceration period in cement tanks with gentle pumpovers during the first week for perfect extraction. The wines are then moved to large Slovenian oak casks where they go through malolactic fermentation and are aged for a period of 30 months. Minuto chooses to bottle unfiltered and with a light fining, making sure that every last bit of complexity remains intact.
