Luigi Pira Barolo Serralunga 2016

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

The cluster of famous crus owned by the Pira family are the premier vineyards around Serralunga village: Margheria and Marenca, which are only just separated from the great Vigna Rionda. Barolo ‘Serralunga’ is the Pira normale, an assemblage of the three crus.

About Azienda Agricola Luigi Pira

The story of the Pira family is the story of Barolo, one told about people of great warmth and integrity. Always seeking quality and improvement, the Pira family are workers of the land, using the grape Nebbiolo (and Barbera and Dolcetto) as the medium through which their particular terroir can speak. Like many Langhe families, they started as growers and eventually released their own wines under the family name.

Luigi Pira was the first to bottle the family’s wines, prompted by stories from the outside world of the interest in Barolo, and encouraged by sons Giampaolo and Romolo, and later Claudio, who were confident of the eventual demand for Serralunga and the importance of their vineyard plots. Giampaolo later took the reins in the winery and was one of the original and probably the lowest-key of the ‘Barolo Boys’.

In the Vineyard

In the Winery

Up until recent years, the use of roto-fermenters with quick ferments and a decent amount of new oak resulted in somewhat ‘Parker-ised’ wines, but due to the very strong Serralunga imprint – stock, smoke, graphite and darkest cherry – the wines and their personalities always overtook the oak. These days, ferments have been significantly slowed down to allow for a gentler process. The barrels are fewer, larger and older, and commentary on the presence of oak has disappeared over the last few years.

Today, a Luigi Pira Barolo is regarded as a benchmark for wines that show classic Serralunga characters of darkness and power, allied with numerous complexities and an up-tempo style. Vineyard management has been essentially sustainable for decades, too, and Pira are long-time practitioners of cover-cropping, natural insecticides and minimal sulphur use. One testimonial to this combination of attention to detail in both the winery and vineyard is to the distinctly individual characteristics in the ‘Margheria’ and ‘Marenca’ Baroli, even though the crus are adjacent.

The 2016 Vintage at Luigi Pira

2016 has come at just the right time. We have a number of winemakers with incredible experience and wine wisdom. The vineyards in Barolo are in the best condition they’ve been in with incredible detail going into their care.

Combined we have a situation where vignerons are in the best possible position to make the most of the great fruit yielded by the 2016 harvest!

When you compare the 2015 & 2016 vintages you see the difference between a warmer vintage with a shorter ripening period and a cooler one with the longest ripening period in memory.

Nebbiolo responds beautifully to a cooler longer ripening. Once it reaches sugar level high enough to make a wine around 14-14.5% alcohol the sugar levels stop increasing, it tends to hold its acid and the tannins so important to the insane mouthfeel of Nebbiolo ripen and increase in depth.

Such vintages tend to offer wines with more perfume, energy, and, vitality.

Where in the World is Luigi Pira?

Luigi has an incredible cluster of 3 Cru’s in Serralunga with: Margheria, the adjacent Marenca, and, the nearby Vigna Rionda.