Roero “Vigna di Lino”
The Vigna di Lino vineyard takes the name from Mario Roagna’s father. It is a tribute to the vision and hard work that Mario’s father, helped by his mother Carolina, shared for so many years. As sharecroppers they invested their limited resources and enormous passion in these vineyards. While most of the local farmers left their homes and land to find employment in the factories of Turin, Lino and Carolina stayed behind because the love for their vineyards was stronger than a secure and better paying factory job. A month on the skins in steel, then sixteen months in old barrels that give it air and nothing else: no new oak, no makeup, just Nebbiolo with the lights on. This is the vineyard the family keeps for itself. Only 3,000 bottles produced annually.
Appellation: Nebbiolo d’Alba DOC
Type: red, dry
Grape Variety: 100% Nebbiolo
Tasting Notes: A red wine of great structure. Ruby red color with garnet hues developing with aging. Elegant tannins and notes of blackberries, mushrooms and roses. It can age for years.
Food Pairings: Roast lamb, game and dry cheeses.
Vineyard: The Vigna di Lino vineyard extends for about 3 acres on the left bank of the Tanaro river. It’s at 900 feet above sea level and enjoys an exposure to the south. The vines are 30+ years old with a density of 2.300 plants per acre. The vineyard is bio-dynamically fertilized.
Planting System: Guyot
Soil: Mainly calcareous with 30% sandy.
Harvest: Middle of October, by hand
Yield: Less than 3 pounds of grapes per vine.
Vinification: A 25-day maceration-day and fermentation in stainless steel tanks with 6-7 daily pump-overs. Racking into French oak barrels where the malolactic fermentation takes place
Aging: 15 months in used French oak barrels and 6 months in the bottle.
Total Production: 4.000 bottles
2006 Nebbiolo d’Alba “Vigna di Lino” – 90 Points – Robert Parker Wine Advocate (Oct. 2008)
“The estate’s 2006 Nebbiolo d’Alba Vigna di Lino is a terrific effort. Gorgeous aromatics are woven into a core of rich dark fruit that shows lovely clarity and poise despite the wine’s full-bodied personality. This needs at least another year in bottle to come together, but from time to time the wine’s lovely inner sweetness emerges, providing a glimpse of its ultimate potential. Firm yet will-integrated tannins support the fruit all the way through to the long, satisfying finish….Cascina Val del Prete is one of my favorite estates in the Roero.” ~A.G.
2009 Nebbiolo d’Alba “Vigna di Lino” – 92 Points – Robert Parker Wine Advocate (Oct. 2011)
“The 2009 Nebbiolo d’Alba Vigna di Lino impresses for its refined, elegant personality. it is a firm gorgeous, seamless wine endowed with expressive dark red fruit flowers and sweet spices. Firm tannins frame the fruit nicely in this deceptively mid-weight, textured Nebbiolo.” ~A.G.
