Roagna
Pira Vecchie Viti
Barolo
2015

The producer

Currently run by 5^th generation, Luca, the Roagnas have 16 ha of vineyard split between Barbaresco and Barolo, and with parcels in some of the region’s finest vineyards, including Asili, Paje and Montefico in Barbaresco and the monopole cru La Rocca e Le Pira in Barolo. Vineyards are grown organically, without any chemicals or fertilizers, and Luca believes in biodiversity as one of the main methods for achieving vine health.

The cellars (and family’s roots) are located in the Paje cru, in Barbaresco, and the wines are famous for very long skin contact (70-100 days) and long ageing (5-8 years depending on the vintage) in old Slavonian oak casks. Barolo Crichet Paje is an icon in the region, produced from a micro parcel, within the Paje cru, which is particularly rich in calcareous soils. Production is extremely limited, often with less than 1000 bottles produced of each wine.

The wine

Roagna owns 4.88 hectares in the Pira vineyard which is southeast facing in the village of Castiglione Falletto. The soil is limestone and marl, and vines for the Vecchie Viti cuvee dates to 1937. Fermentation and the extended maceration take place in large oak casks and is followed by ageing in neutral oak barrels for around 5 years. The production is extremely limited, often only about 2,000 bottles per vintage. Each bottle is numbered. Unmistakably Roagna, this is a wine of power and concentration yet juicy elegance and balance.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.