Cogno Barolo – The Crown Jewels Set

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Cogno makes 4 Baroli from different parts of the Ravera Cru. When you look at the map of Barolo below it’s clear that the Ravera Cru is quite large with many different aspects. It’s great to see Cogno separating the unique parcels. The 4 wines from top to bottom are:

Walter Fissore and Nadia Cogno’s 2015 Barolos are compelling, as are their later-release 2014 and 2013 wines. All of these Barolos share the sense of translucence and weightless energy that is the single most important signature of Ravera, where the estate and all of the vineyards are located. Antonio Galloni

Vigna Elena was planted in 1991, the year the Elvio Cogno Winery was founded, this vineyard was baptized with the name of Nadia Cogno and Valter Fissore’s daughter, born in the same year.
It was planted with a Nebbiolo clone called Rosé, a grape that gives its wines a brilliant garnet colour and intense floral aromas.

Vigna Elena is about one hectare inside the Ravera cru, and its soils are calcareous-clay with southeast exposure planted about 380 m above sea level.

Vigna Elena is a wine for Barolo purists, uncompromising in its style and character and disregarding of taste trends and market demands. To create this honest Barolo, we respectfully and meticulously follow the experience our grandparents handed down to us. We use the same nebbiolo clone (100% Rosè for many years now), cultivation system and yield, use of native yeasts, and aging in large barrels. These practices, in addition to the unique microclimate of the Langhe, combine to create a wine worthy of its history and tradition, capable of raising the profile of the Barolo appellation. The label of Vigna Elena attests to its excellence: a chick drawn by Elena for her mother Nadia and her father Valter when she was three years old. Ever since then, it has been the symbol of the wine.

Area: 1 hectare
Grape variety: rosé, a sub-variety of nebbiolo
Density: 4,000 vines per hectare
Cultivation: vertical trellised, Guyot pruning
Altitude: 380 m above sea level
Harvest period: October
Wine making: in stainless steel, temperature-controlled, automatic pump-over, post-fermentation maceration for 30 days with submerged cap
Aging: 36 months in large 40hl Slavonian oak barrels
Lysis: 60 days
Bottle aging: 24 months

Cogno’s Style

Cogno’s wines are down the traditional wine with modern fermentation tech, stainless steel. The wines are clean, not clinical, the elevage, largely time in large old wood makes for beautifully developed wines. Fine and feminine, they all have a great core of fruit, balance and lovely mouthfeel. You will be seeing many more of their wines on our list!

About Elvio Cogno

The film below Walter deep dives into each of the wines adding context and deep understanding of the family’s wine philosophy.

The Elvio Cogno Winery stands at the top of the Bricco Ravera Hill in Novello, in the Piedmont territory of the Langhe. The farm occupies 11 hectares of land, all under vine. It has the unique feature that it is almost surrounded by forest (bordered at least) creating a unique, possibly slightly cooler more natural micro climate.

The Cogno family has been making wine for four generations, managing the vineyards with great care. They do not force the natural way of the vines, but cultivate low yields per hectare in respect of the biological balance of the vines. In Elvio Cogno’s wines today, we find the characteristics of history and tradition as Papà Elvio advised, and freshness and innovation that his daughter Nadia and her husband Valter Fissore contribute. The style is traditional: organic vineyard management, extremely low yields, a long maceration time and ageing in large oak. Always looking for balance the wines have immediate appeal but of course the longer you spend with them the more they reveal their multifaceted structure. This is true for all their wines, not only the top cru‘s.
Organic and biodynamic principles are employed in the vineyard and winery.

Where in the World is Cogno?

The estate great vineyards are based in the Commune of Novello in the south-east of the Barolo region. Their prized vineyard, Ravera (not to be confused with Ravera di Monforte) is on the north-eastern boundary of the Commune.

Explore the Ravera Cru, Novello by Alessandro Masnaghetti on his interactive Barolo MGA 360 website.