Paolo Scavino Barolo ‘Bussia-Fantini’ MAGNUM 2021

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

I often find myself frustrated tasting through hundreds of wines a week. Too boring, to ripe, to technical, just no fun. Speeding through a trade tasting of wines from around the world, I was about ready to walk out when I spied a few wines that made me pause. Paolo Scarvino’s Baroli. The afternoon turned into an epic success. In front of me lay a cluster of real wines. Cru, single vineyard, Barolos this beautiful are less common than you think! These were wines that inspired, poured by Riccardo who clearly knew what he was talking about, lived it, breathed it. It seems passion runs through the veins of the entire business!

The 2018 vintage confirmed my thinking. Why 2018 not 2016 or 2015. 2018 was a year that saw significant variability amongst the makers across all the communes in Barolo. Tasting almost ninety 2018 Barolos in a session there were few standouts. One was Paolo Scavino. Amongst a roller coaster of thin and often texturally lacking Nebbiolos, Scavino, sat amongst the best showing a clear understanding of vineyard management and a considered approach in the winery. The wines were energetic and loaded with personality.

It’s the hard vintage when you often discover the skill and wisdom of a vigneron!

Looking at Scavino’s website I found these words which sum up the Paolo Scavino wines:

“Through over 60 years of experience his focus has been to invest on important cru of Nebbiolo to show the uniqueness of each terroir.

Their work is inspired by the love and respect they have for their territory and they pursue purity of expression, complexity and elegance for their wines from the three local grapes Dolcetto, Barbera and Nebbiolo.”

The most important words: respect, purity of expression, complexity, and elegance.

Combine these with a winemaking approach that clearly demonstrates the wisdom that only time and experience can afford a winemaker, and, the results are individual wines of great personality and intrigue. These are the kind of wines that shift you from very good to great.

“He has an open, sunny face and looks at you with confidence because he knows he will never find the words to defend his world but that his wines can defend themselves… He seems an old-fashioned man but he chose to be a winegrower and knows how to observe progress without any conservative reactionary. For each wine produced, depending on the vintage, the right path is chosen without blindly following tradition and without passively following every innovation. He does not love excess” – Luigi Veronelli, I vignaioli storici, volume n.3, testi di Nichi Stefi, Mediolanum Editori Associati, 1988

With a clear transition underway to his daughters Enrica and Elisa it looks like Paolo Scavino will be in good hands for decades to come.

The 2021 Vintage at Paolo Scavino

Where in the World is Paolo Scavino?

Founded in 1921 in Castiglione Falletto, Paolo Scavino under the guidance of Enrico, and, now his daughters, Enrica and Elisa have amassed a superb collection of Cru vineyards in Barolo, representing 20 of 29 hectares with parcels across each of the communes.

These are some of the best sites across Barolo. Click the map to link to an interactive page on Scavino’s website.