Elvio Cogno - Barbera Bricco Dei Merli 2015

Bright ruby red in color with clear crimson highlights. Deep, full aromas, elegant, well-balanced and enduring, reminiscent of rose, undergrowth and oriental spices. Very powerful bouquet, sweetened by an overall softness. Fine structure accompanied by lively acidic freshness. Flavors conjure up Morello cherry and plum jam with a long finish of withered grape.

"Cogno's 2017 Barbera d'Alba Bricco dei Merli is dark, sumptuous and wonderfully inviting. Black cherry, mocha, licorice, spice and sweet pipe tobacco add shades of nuance to a Barbera that captures the richness of the year while also retaining a mid-weight sense of structure. Impeccable in its balance, the 2017 has so much to offer."

Vintage Report: After several heavy snow falls in the winter time, the beginning of the spring was quite hot with some rain that helped the growing cycle to start earlier than usual. Towards the end of April, the sharp drop in temperatures recorded—especially overnight—caused some frost damage, but only at the bottom of the valleys and on cooler slopes, in fact any of our vineyards were effected. Starting from May, the weather was hot and dry, enhancing a perfectly even fruit set followed by a quick veraison. This dry conditions, even if considered extraordinary, did not effected negatively the growing cycle due the reserve of water from the winter snow. By the end of August and September, the cool nights really helped to develop perfect phenolic ripening. Harvest was about 7 to 10 days earlier than usual.

Fermentation: 100% in stainless-steel fermentors with 9-12 days skin contact, temperature controlled, with automatic pump overs; 100% with indigenous yeast. Malolactic fermentation in 100% stainless steel. 

Aging: 1 year barrel-aging in used, 25-hl (660-gallon) Slavonian oak; bottle-aged for 6 months. Bottled without filtration

Grape(s): 100% Barbera

Alcohol: 15.0%

About the Winery: The Cogno family has been making wine for four generations in Piedmont. In 1990, Elvio Cogno left a long and fruitful partnership with the venerable Barolo producer Marcarini at La Morra and bought a splendid, historic 18th-century farmhouse on the top of Bricco Ravera, a hill near Novello in the Langhe area. (Novello is one of the 11 communes in which Barolo is produced.) The farm was surrounded by 11 hectares (27.18 acres) of steeply sloped vineyards. Elvio restored the manor, converted the old granaries to wine cellars and founded his eponymous winery. For the next 20 years he devoted himself to the winemaking traditions handed down to him by his father and grandfather.