Product information

$109

$104ea in any 3+
$99ea in any 6+
Closure: Cork

Description

A lot to love here. Excellent core of red fruits wrapped with a little darkness, hint of black liquorice, baking spice, chocolate, and black tea. Rich and generous showing La Morra fruit, plenty of energy, the first glass I had showed a bit of grip. Now with a little air time the tannins have softened to a dusty layer showing plenty of quality. The mouthfeel hallmark Poderi Oddero. Beautiful drinking with plenty to come.

2017 is really showing how sophisticated and wise the Barolo growers and makers have become!


Tasted this with Pietro Oddero @ WINE DECODED HQ, Nov 2022

I keep saying drink more than 1 wine at a time, you’ll accelerate your appreciation for the best gear and drink better sooner.

Tasted next to the 2018 with Pietro to share his reflections of both years and vines. Once again we’re seeing the adage producer, producer, producer win. Two very different vintages 2017 warm, 2018 cool with disease pressure, hail events and beyond. Oddero’s Barolo from both vintages are excellent wines and in rare company at sub-$100 a bottle.

The question is more about which to drink first! Both Pietro and I agree the 2018 is more approachable now.

The 2017 now settling after being tightly wound on release. Next to the 2020 Langhe Neb you can see the jump in both depth of fruit,  tannin and complexity.

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Check out all of the wines by Poderi Oddero

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Wine Decoded Meets Pietro Oddero! He Came, We Talked, We Drank … We Played with the Pooches!

Spending a couple of hours with Pietro exploring the history of the region, the winery and the people was a pleasure. The quality and personality-filled wines of Poderi Oddero make sense … you’ll see!

Pietro’s grandfather Giacomo, the 5th generation, played a major role in establishing the DOC for Barolo and a suite of agricultural produce, think hazelnuts and white truffles!

While the red tape of a DOC can feel restrictive, at the time the impetus was to collectivley set base level standards that would see the profile of the Langhe raised on a global stage.

Few would argue they haven’t achieved their goal!

WINE DECODED · Pietro Oddero Nov 2022

Variety
100% Nebbiolo

Vineyard
Location: La Morra, Santa Maria Bricco Chiesa, Plot 18, Sub-plots 503, 553, 443, 442, 552, 444, 483, 445, 612, 461
Characteristics: 200 meters above sea level, southeastern exposure, 2.7 x 0.9 meters spacing, 4,000 vines/hectare density, Guyot upward-trained vertical-trellised training system.
Age: varies, with the oldest being 60 years old
Size: 2.7 hectares
Yield: 70 quintals/hectare

Location: Castiglione Falletto Bricco Fiasco, Plot 7, Sub-plots 35, 36, 37, 38, 134 Characteristics: 250 meters above sea level, southwestern exposure, 2,70×0,90 meters spacing, 4,000 vines/hectare density, Guyot upward-trained vertical-trellised training system.
Age: varies, with the oldest being 60 years old
Size: 2.5 hectares
Yield: 70 quintals/hectare

Harvesting period
mid-October

Production
About 30,000 bottles

Winemaking
Rigorous manual selection of grapes in the vineyard. Fermentation and maceration in stainless steel for 20 days at a controlled temperature of 28-29°C, followed by malolactic fermentation. They occur separately for the three vineyards, as well as the malolactic fermentation

Maturing
The wines coming from the different vineyards are aged separately in 40, 60 and 75 –hectoliter Slavonian and Austrian oak barrels for 30 months. The wines are blended in the spring, then bottled at the end of the summer and aged in the bottle for another 6 months before release on the market.

Tasting through the wines, they have a rustic nature to them, the tannins are mouth coating, often dusty and chalky. Yet, they’re balanced with a purity and brightness of fruit. There is a faint layer of oak in the Barbera from the new large Stockinger botti refreshing the old botti that have seen decades of use. It sits in balance. Isabella Oddero describes it as neutral and elegant.

The wines demand patience. Drink the DOCG Barolo and Cru’s over 2 or 3 days when young. I write this with a large glass of 2016 Barbaresco ‘Gallina’ in hand. It’s been open for 3 days now and is drinking the best it’s drunk. The tannins have softened a little, harmonising with the fruit. The wine has resolved to reveal a balance, beauty and perfume that sat shy on first opening.

These are superb wines of purity, character and energy. They represent an interpretation of Nebbiolo that requires patience and with it will reward you with bags of personality

– Paul Kaan, Wine Decoded

Readers who enjoy fine, classically built wines will want to check out Oddero. Bravo!
– Antonio Galloni, Vinous


Exploring Tannin Profiles

Texture is the missing link between good and great wines!

This is a great opportunity to explore tannin and mouthfeel.

  1. Drink a Dolcetto, Barbera and Langhe Nebbiol0 to dial into the differences between the varieties.
  2. Drink a Langhe Nebbiolo, a Barbaresco Gallina and a Barolo next to each to see how the tannins step as you move from the Langhe to both the Barbaresco and Barolo and how they differ between the Barbaresco and Barolo.
  3. Drink the Barolo next the Brunate, Villero & Vigna Rionda to see how the Crus layer up and have very different tannin profiles.

About Oddero

In Australia, we have wineries that have been around for 150 years. In Germany 4-500 years. Oddero sit in the middle with around a 300 year history.

If only those vines could talk. Now with 35 ha of vines across Barolo and the Gallina Cru in Barbaresco the estate continues to evolve with thoughtful intent.

Like many of the best estates in Piedmonte the attention to detail in the vineyard has lifted a notch or 3 and practices are now organic. I’d love to try their honey and hazelnuts. Italian honey is the bomb!

The film below is in Italian, seriously, just soak it up!

The podcast from Levi Dalton with Isabella Oddero from 2009 and one with Giacomo Oddero that just dropped is well worth a listen.

In the Vineyard

Since 2008 Luigi Oddero’s vineyards have been certified organic. Work has been underway to improve, soils, trellising and spend more time in the vineyard. Adding reduced yields the focus is clearly on lifting quality! I haven’t seen many older Oddero’s, today’s range have personality to burn.

In the Winery

The Langhe Neb sees a short ferment and maturation in Stainless steel.

The DOCG level Neb’s stay on skins for around 20-28 days in Tine (large vertical wooden barrels).

Stockinger Botti from Austria have been gradually introduced to replace the large old botti. Custom sizes have been bought, just 1 for each vineyard! Isabella describes the wood as being very neutral and austere.

I suspect the Barbera, that handle oak better than Neb, has been used for the first fill to ‘wash’ them of oak flavours and tannins before the Nebbiolo takes its turn. The quality and level of oak in the Barbera is nicely done.

Whatever the technique, the results in the glass are impressive!

The 2017 – 2016 – 2015 Vintages for Oddero

We’ve covered the basics about 2015 & 2016 so many times it’s a mute point now. 2015 warm, best wines are excellent. 2016 superb.

What about 2017. Again a warmer year. A year Luca Carrudo of Vietti called excellent for Barbera. Whatever the reality of the weather the reality in the glass for Oddero’s 2017 Langhe Neb is one with a lovely perfume, solid core of fruit, a bag full of edgy tannin that demands food or time, a fun drink and great value.

2017 will be remembered as hot with low rainfall. Winter was mild, while spring brought some rain and above-average temperatures. May saw the beginning of a long period of fine weather with summer maximums above average, though cooler nights than in other hot years.

End of August and early September, some welcome rain arrived, followed by a sharp drop in temperatures and marked diurnal temperature shifts. The later ripening nebbiolo and barbera benefitted most. While the overall growing season was shorter, it still lasted on average 185 days compared with 170 in other ‘hot’ years, and 200 in classic vintages.

The accumulation of anthocyanins and tannins was excellent, and while alcohols are higher, they are not out of the average, especially for nebbiolo. Ph levels were good and acids lower. Yields were below average of compact bunches, with harvest occurring around 2 weeks early.

2017 yielded wines of great promise – the cool nights and return to ‘average’ conditions in September being major contributing factors. In fact the 2017 Barolos show remarkable freshness and elegance, with the top producers building on their experience of warmer years, which began with the torrid 2003.

Galloni does an excellent job exploring the 2017 growing season and vintage in his article “2017 Barolo: Here We Go Again…” It’s clear the growers and makers of Piedmont have got their heads around warmer vintages and how to get the most in both the vineyard, and, the winery.

“There is plenty to like about the 2017 Barolos… In tasting, the 2017s are mid-weight Barolos with the classic structure of Nebbiolo. They are often intensely aromatic. Acids and tannins are prominent in many wines. The fruit profiles are ripe, often distinctly redtoned, but not cooked or over-ripe. Perhaps most importantly, the 2017 Barolos are very true to site, which is always a concern with vintages marked by warm weather. The best 2017s are exceptionally polished, vivid and flat-out delicious”

Galloni

Where in the World is Oddero?

Based in La Morra, Oddero’s 35ha are spread across Barolo, Barbaresco and Asti. Currently released Cru’s are Vigna Rionda (Serralunga), Rocche di Castiglione (Castiglione Falletto), Brunate (La Morra), Villero (Castiglione Falletto), Bussia Vigna Mondoca (Monforte) Bricco Fiasco – currently blended in into the Barolo Normale.

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Click to enlarge 🔎
94 Points

The Oddero 2017 Barolo draws its fruit from three sites: Bricco Chiesa and Capalot, both in La Morra and Fiasco in Castiglione Falletto. I always admire the purity and elegance inherent to these wines from Oddero and am happy to report that the 2017 vintage delivers on those same promises. The wine pours from the bottle with a brilliant ruby hue, and it offers aromas of wild cherry, blue flower and tarry smoke. There are virtually no signs of the vintage heat, save for a little more tannic power and concentration that you perceive in the mouth. I'd suggest a longish drinking window as a result.

Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate

91 Points

The 2017 Barolo is a very pretty, elegant wine and one of the few straight Barolos in this vintage that is truly finessed. Translucent and so expressive, the Oddero Barolo is wonderfully expressive right out of the gate. Crushed flowers, sweet red berry, mint and cinnamon all grace this super-expressive Barolo.

Antonio Galloni, Vinous

Where in the world does the magic happen?

Frazione S. Maria, 28, 12064 La Morra CN, Italy

Barolo
La Morra
Piedmont
Italy