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Principiano Barbera D’Alba 2020

12.5% abv

Vol- 75cl

The nose shows floral notes with hints of cherry. On the palate, the wine is fresh and delicate, with refreshing acidity and good length.

Barbera DOC Laura ripens on 1.5 hectares with 40-year-old vines at 300 metres high. Exposure to south by southwest and attention to each phenological stage allow to reach full ripeness and concentration, and to harvest in late September. Fermentation and maceration without inoculated yeasts and without added sulfur for 20 days, with minimal pumping over and punching. From 2016 onwards Ferdinando’s parcel of vines from the renowned Romualda slope, some of the oldest Barbera in Alba, are included in the cuvee.

Ageing takes place for 10 months in stainless steel tanks and then in bottle

830 cases produced.

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£19.50inclusive of Duty and VAT

Out of stock. Contact us for availability.

Ferdinando Principiano is one of the new crop of exciting young winegrowers to farm Piedmont’s Langhe hills. He graduated from Alba’s Scuola Viticole Umberto I in 1993, joining his father Americo at the Monforte D’Alba domaine following an apprenticeship at both Giacomo Conterno & Roberto Voerzio; the best of both worlds you could say. The former drove his determination to produce a pure and balanced style of Barolo, persuading him that nurturing the vineyard soil and rejecting the use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides gives the correct conditions for the vine to thrive in. Voerzio taught him tradition for its’ own sake does not necessarily give you the best results.

Initially seduced into making souped-up wines to ‘guarantee’ 100 point scores in America, he changed direction in 2003 when he found these wines undrinkable, falling over with age. Now the yields are not so low, the vineyards rich with wildlife, the roto-fermenters removed, his foot off the gas. Fermentations are shorter and the ripening period extended in his now all-organic vineyards. He keeps sulphur to the bare minimum and has even replaced copper use in the vineyard with algae and aloe treatments - all to enhance the long term health of the vines in their environment. Wines are treated with as minimal intervention as possible - natural yeasts and additions of sulphur at a bare minimum if needed at all.

The precipitous slope of the Ravera di Monforte Cru lies at the southern tip of Barolo. Take one step away from the foot of the slope and you have left DOCG Barolo. This facing hill is where Ferdinando has his inherited Le Coste vineyards in the Langhe DOC. It’s a stretch to call this the wild frontier but it is different from central Barolo where smooth hills are sculpted entirely out of vines. These were Ferdinando’s grandfather’s vines & the house where Ferdinando was born sits here in the valley. Look beyond and the brow of Cascina Francia watches over the curve of its sibling Boscareto. And so Ferdinando is, as many of the greatest Piemontese are, not just rooted in Barolo but in this, his individual area of Barolo. Vines, woods, silence, no main roads, just peace and quiet and wildlife. This is what Barolo means to Ferdinando.

Reference #:
15495
Strength
12.5 ABV
Bottles per Case
6 bottles
Grapes
Barbera
Organic
Yes
Biodynamic
Yes
Vegan
Yes
Vegetarian
Yes
Sparkling
No

What do I pay for delivery?

Orders under £150 are charged an initial £9.95 incl. VAT.

Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Isles of Scilly.
Orders under £190 are charged an initial £12.00 incl.

All stock bought from Bond will be charged at delivery cost as quoted by the bond. As this varies dependent on the location of the wines and ultimate destination this will be quoted to you at the point of billing for VAT and duty.

And can we change order.

Deliveries are normally between 09.00 and 17.00 Tuesday to Friday and a signature is required on receipt of delivery. (We do not ship on a Friday for Monday delivery unless specifically requested to do so).

A shipping confirmation email will be sent when your order has been processed and shipped. You will be sent a further email and/or text with a delivery time slot and a consignment number along with instructions on how to amend this if required.

If you are out a card is left, with an instruction to call the local depot to re-arrange delivery. Alternatively, you can inform us to “leave safe”, “leave with a neighbour”, “leave in garage” etc. and we will pass this information onto the courier. Please remember that, in accordance with our Terms & Conditions, alcohol will only be left with persons over 18 Years Old.

A shipping confirmation email will be sent when your order has been processed and shipped. You will be sent a text with a delivery time slot and a consignment number along with instructions on how to amend this if required.

We use Mailsafe packaging and double walled cardboard boxes for secure shipping of all bottles. Clear labelling marked FRAGILE is applied and all our despatches.

UK mainland deliveries are overnight from confirmation of despatch with the exception of the following postcodes where deliveries are made on a 2 to 5 day service from despatch : 

IV 3 to 11, IV14 to 28, IV 40 & IV 51 to 54, IV 63. KW 1 to 3 & KW 5 to 14. PH 33 to 41